For The Sake of the Baby
by lyonsfan
Summary: Ginny and Draco go home to BIG surprises! Dracos got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing trouble, nasty rumors are spreading. New Chapter! R&R... I know... finally!
1. Chocolate Is Cheaper Than Therapy

For The Sake Of The Baby  
Written by: Dracoscutie  
  
Disclaimer: Let's see. I own the plot and the few characters that you see that you don't recognize. These characters will be listed in full at the end of this fic, as I don't want to spoil anything! But JK owns everything basically. Lucky.  
  
Author's Notes: Ta da! It's finally here! The moment you've all been so anxiously awaiting, I'm sure. The sequel to The Girl All The Bad Guys Want! I told you the first chapter would be up in late July, I'm so sorry for the delay! I have had so many vacations and such but anyway here it is! I am absolutely ecstatic of course by all the reviews I got for TGATBGW, but I am looking forward to everyone's input on this one! I would like to thank my amazing beta readers for helping me out! They of course will be credited as well! Please enjoy!  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Here goes nothing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 1 Chocolate Is Cheaper Than Therapy and You Don't Need an Appointment  
  
All things considered, the train ride home from Ginny's fifth year and Draco's sixth year had been chaotic and a full-fledged disaster.  
  
Ginny brought Draco to sit with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender this time around. Needless to say, Draco had had to be pulled into the compartment entirely against his own free will, fingers laced together with Ginny's.  
  
Draco felt as if he was standing in the middle of Diagon Alley at Christmas, completely naked as he stood before the Dream Team. Hermione and Lavender were looking at the couple with complete adoration. Draco was just waiting for one of them to coo about how cute they were, but thankfully no such thing happened.  
  
Ron and Harry, on the other hand, were staring at Draco and Ginny with looks of contempt and distaste, and in Harry's case, slight jealousy.  
  
"Hey Gin, since when did 'just friends' hold hands?" Ron asked sincerely, watching Ginny quickly drop Draco's hand in sudden recollection of her fib.  
  
"Sorry, I had to literally drag Draco in here." Ginny laughed, seating herself between Hermione and Lavender as Draco reluctantly sat next to Harry.  
  
"You could have left him out there and I wouldn't have minded." Ron said gloomily, glaring at Draco - only to have the look returned.  
  
"Ronald Weasley!" Lavender scolded the sardonic redhead, "Be nice! Draco did NOTHING to you!"  
  
"He's HERE isn't he?" Ron shot back heatedly, crossing his arms over his chest and slouching down to add under his breath, "And since when do you call him Draco?"  
  
"Well, Weasley let me tell ya," Draco drawled out matter-of-factly, "being with you is no picnic either."  
  
Ron made a childish face at Draco before turning to look out the window at the passing countryside.  
  
"You two had better stop acting like children." Ginny warned them as she played with her hair.  
  
"Or what?" Ron challenged his little sister menacingly.  
  
"Shouldn't have done that." Draco told Ron, seeing Ginny's eyes flashing.  
  
"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do to MY sister! I would know better than YOU what she wants anyway!" Ron retorted rather huffily.  
  
"Hey, look, I was just trying to warn you." Draco said quickly, as he adverted his eyes away from Ginny's anger filled ones.  
  
"I don't need to be warned!" Ron informed Draco brusquely.  
  
"Ron Weasley! Do not challenge my patience!" Ginny yelled loudly at her brother. "Draco is my friend and you need to get that through that thick head of yours." Ginny then turned on Draco as he was, after all, not entirely faultless.  
  
"Draco, when Ron gets his knickers all up in a bunch like that - do not provoke him! Honestly boys!" She cried out, giving them both the death glare she had perfected. After living with six brothers for much of her life, how could she not?  
  
The full compartment became silent so quickly that you'd think it'd been emptied. A mad Ginny was never a good Ginny, and every one of them knew it.  
  
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the trolley lady's voice cut through the silence.  
  
"Yes, I'll have six chocolate frogs, please." Ginny told the lady as she counted the number of people that were in the compartment. Ginny handed the old lady the galleons in exchange for the chocolate frogs before the cart rolled its way to the next compartment.  
  
Everyone watched as Ginny took her seat once more. They all waited almost expectantly to see if Ginny would share her sweets.  
  
It became apparent that she was NOT sharing as she unwrapped the first frog and popped it into her mouth in one bite.  
  
Draco leaned towards Harry and whispered out of shock.  
  
"Is she going to eat ALL of those by herself?"  
  
Harry gave a chuckle as he explained -  
  
"Chocolate is the way Ginny takes care of her emotions. She eats it when she's happy, mad, sad, nervous, and just about any other time she can get her hands on it. I suppose she bought one for every person in here that gives her grief." Harry said at last as the boys watched as Ginny violently bit the head of the third frog and chucked the card out the window.  
  
"Oh," was all Draco said.  
  
"Will you two stop gossiping over there?" Ron asked irritated. He found it highly annoying that Harry and Draco were speaking to one another in a fairly civilized manner.  
  
"Calm down, Weasley. I'm not trying to steal away your precious Potter." Draco grumbled.  
  
"Oh, but this is calm, Malfoy." Ron said bitterly.  
  
Hermione and Lavender saw that if this behavior continued then it would only upset Ginny further, so they stepped in.  
  
"So I heard that Seamus and Parvati have finally hooked up." Hermione said suddenly, hoping their gossip would be enough to distract Ginny for a while.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Lavender exclaimed, leaning across Ginny so as to be sure that she could hear them loud and clear. "But I heard that he's cheating on her with Padma!"  
  
Ginny sat up suddenly, amazed at this news.  
  
"You're joking!" she exclaimed.  
  
"No! I'm serious!" Lavender said, happy to see that Ginny was willing to participate in a little gossip.  
  
The cold tension had been broken and all three boys all rolled their eyes.  
  
Harry and Ron began to talk about next year's Quidditch team strategies, which Draco thought was particularly idiotic as he would be the Slytherin captain next year and he could hear every word they were saying. It was when Potter began to ramble on about Wronski Feints that Draco lost interest. Potter's Feints were becoming so predictable that he didn't even bother listening anymore.  
  
Ten minutes later, the blonde-haired boy was so fed up with all the mindless small talk and girly gossip that he got frustrated. He was being left out! Draco HATED being left out of anything. Sure he would have rolled his eyes at the girls if they tried to get him to participate in the gossip, but he would have gladly piped in every now and then.  
  
With those thoughts, he got up to go and find some of HIS friends to sit with.  
  
Draco stepped out of the compartment and breathed in the Potter-free air that surrounded him. A door slammed behind him and he smelled the ever- familiar aroma of Ginny's light perfume.  
  
"Why'd you leave?" she asked him worriedly.  
  
"I don't belong in there." he said simply, turning around to meet her warm doe eyes. He saw that she was still holding two of the chocolate frogs.  
  
"Why didn't you say something then, Draco?" she asked him, stepping forward.  
  
"I dunno." he said honestly, grabbing her hand once more.  
  
"Well then, let's get out of here." she said flicking her hair over her shoulder. She knew she would probably never be comfortable sitting with his friends so why should he be comfortable with hers. Well, those friends anyway.  
  
Ginny dragged Draco down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express and stopped abruptly at the opposite end.  
  
"All right, this compartment will be like a completely different world than what you're used to." Ginny warned him as she pulled open the door to reveal four giggling girls.  
  
One of them, Draco knew very well and one he was only in acquaintance with. The other two girls, however, were new faces.  
  
"Ginny!" Blaise squealed, standing up to hug her. "Draco!" she said hugging him, as well. She had recently begun to call him by his first name.  
  
"Hey you guys!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping up to hug Ginny and smile at Draco. She wasn't quite to the hugging point with him yet.  
  
"Hey Blaise! Hey Chloe!" Ginny greeted, "Draco this is Elisabeth and Mara." She said, introducing a blonde and a brunette who were otherwise identical.  
  
"Hi." The girls said blushing. Draco realized that they must be twins. Each girl had big green eyes and dimples only on their left cheek.  
  
"Hello." Draco said politely.  
  
Chloe sat next to the twins, letting Draco and Ginny sit next to each other with Blaise on the other side of the redhead.  
  
"So Blaise just told us about the little hallway scene earlier." Chloe said, raising her eyebrows. "What's with that?'  
  
"It was nothing really. Really, it was just an accident." Ginny explained as Draco snaked his arm around her waist.  
  
"Sure it was." Blaise said rolling her eyes.  
  
"It was!" Ginny defended; she loved not having to pretend she and Draco were 'just friends' with them.  
  
Blaise, Chloe and Ginny launched into a total recreation of the incident with Blaise and Ginny playfully arguing over what REALLY happened and Chloe interjecting where it was needed. The compartment was a totally stress- free zone, so unlike the forced conversation that had taken place with the Dream Team.  
  
Meanwhile, the twins seemed totally enamored in Draco.  
  
"So, Draco, what's -" Elisabeth would start.  
  
"Your favorite color?" Mara would finish for her.  
  
"Umm. dark blue I suppose. Why?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Just cuz." they'd answer simultaneously gawking at him.  
  
Conversation went on like this for ages before Ginny became aware of the fact that Draco's arm had disappeared from around her waist and he was now talking animatedly to the twins.  
  
Draco had hit a nerve. Unfortunately, that nerve was "jealousy"; Ginny was horrible when it came to being jealous.  
  
"If you'll excuse Draco and me, we really need to be going!" Ginny said, pulling Draco out of the small compartment. Once the couple was out of earshot of everyone, Ginny questioned Draco on his actions.  
  
"What do you think of Elisabeth and Mara?" Ginny asked cautiously.  
  
"I don't know, Gin. They're nice and all, but they're very ditzy." he told her slightly confused.  
  
"Really?'  
  
"Of course! Why? Did you think I was attracted to them?" Draco asked half laughing.  
  
"No way! I was just wondering." Ginny said blushing so her face matched her hair.  
  
"Gin, you're the only girl for me." the blonde man assured her.  
  
"Good, because I think I'm the only one who can put up with you!" Ginny said standing on her tiptoes and kissing him just below his bottom lip. "Come on, the train's stopping."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kids flooded the gates of Platform 9 ¾, some running towards their eager families and some running away.  
  
Draco and Ginny almost felt as though they were moving in slow motion. Neither was eager to do anything that required leaving each other.  
  
"Maybe you could come to the Burrow sometime?" Ginny asked wistfully turning to face Draco. She eyed his hands in hers and thought about what he would have said to that comment a year ago. She was glad times had changed and so had his feelings toward her.  
  
"I think I'd like that." He told her sincerely, "And my mother will be dying to meet you."  
  
Ginny nodded nervously at the prospect of meeting Mrs. Malfoy. That would probably be the most nerve-racking experience in her life.  
  
Both of their eyes had grown brighter and more hopeful at the prospect of seeing each other. Maybe the summer wouldn't be so long and boring after all.  
  
Draco saw his mother approaching fast and felt an odd mixture of feelings. First of all, his mother NEVER came to pick him up at the Platform. Secondly, he hadn't exactly informed his mother about his girlfriend just yet. Both of those thoughts worried him slightly. Draco knew that it was time to act fast or there would be a huge scene.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon then, Gin." Draco told the redhead before him. He kissed her sweetly once before leaving her with three last words. "I love you."  
  
"Love you too, Draco." Ginny said, watching the gray-eyed boy leave leading a confused looking Narcissa out the door.  
  
Ginny supposed that she should go and find her own family now. It was not that this thought bothered her, she just wasn't sure she was ready to go home just yet.  
  
"Virginia!" her mother's familiar voice rang out from behind her. Now was the time for Ginny to step into real life.  
  
She whirled around and held her arms out wide as though she was expecting a hug.  
  
"Mum!" she cried smiling.  
  
"Oh look at how you've grown this year! Your hair is so long!" Molly fussed. "You've become so beautiful! Not that you weren't before dear; but you look so much more like a beautiful woman than a pretty girl!"  
  
"Thanks Mum." Ginny rolled her eyes and grabbed her trolley.  
  
"I've already gotten Ron, Harry, Hermione and Lavender." Molly went on, leading her only daughter out the door. "Did you know she was staying with us for a few days?" She asked in reference to Lavender, "She's such a lovely girl! I'm so glad Ron's found her, maybe he'll grow up!"  
  
"I don't know if that's possible! But if it is, she's the one for the job." Ginny agreed as they all piled into taxis.  
  
The Dream Team clambered into one cab while Molly, Arthur, who had been waiting outside, having fun hailing the cabs, and Ginny all got into the second.  
  
Ginny decided it was the time to let her parents know about her and Draco's relationship now. It'd be best if they knew before everyone else did.  
  
"Well, Mum..Dad..I've kind of got some news for you." Ginny said nervously.  
  
"Whatever is it dear? You sound worried." Molly said from the seat beside her.  
  
"I've got a -um- well; I've got a new boyfriend."  
  
"That's wonderful dear!" Molly gushed.  
  
"You're too young to date." Arthur said flatly.  
  
"Dad, I'm almost 16 and I've dated before."  
  
"Who is it dear?" Molly asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Is it that Payton Jackson boy that I've heard so much about in the news? A good boy that one is."  
  
"No, Mum." Ginny said.  
  
"Then who is it?" Molly demanded.  
  
"Well - you see - that's the thing." Ginny said hesitantly.  
  
"Go on." Arthur urged. As much as he hated the whole dating scene, he knew Ginny was a feisty girl and he wanted to know who had managed to capture his daughter's heart. The way she was acting it seemed as though this boyfriend may be more serious than previously.  
  
"Draco."  
  
"Malfoy?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm very happy for you Ginny, but why him?" Her mother asked. She had no arguments with the boy who had saved her daughter's life, but she hoped that Ginny was doing this out of love, not just because she was in debt to him.  
  
Ginny opened her mouth to explain, but was stopped abruptly by her father's astonished and disbelieving voice.  
  
"It can't be."  
  
"Daddy-"  
  
"His father tried to kill you in your first year. Don't you remember? How could you even LIKE him, let alone DATE him?"  
  
"Daddy that was his father! Draco is not his father! He saved my life! Plus Lucius is dead now; he's not threat to me anymore."  
  
"It's too dangerous." Arthur said in a softer tone.  
  
"If it wasn't for Draco, we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation. He loves me." Ginny explained.  
  
"I don't like this." he said, turning around to face his daughter.  
  
"I love him." Ginny said, eyes pleading with him to understand.  
  
"I will accept this relationship under one condition," Arthur conceded, "That he behaves himself. If he puts one TOE out of line-"  
  
That seemed to be a popular threat with the Weasleys.  
  
"He won't." Ginny promised.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Thank you Daddy! I love Draco. It feels like I've found a part of me that's been missing all these years when I look at him. I can trust him with everything and when I'm with him - it just fits. Nothing can go wrong." Ginny assured her mother.  
  
"How do you know that?" her mother asked.  
  
"Because, he loves me too."  
  
That was all that needed to be said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
So there's the first chapter! As uneventful as it may be! Ginny's parents now know about Draco and Ginny's relationship.  
  
The reason I included this chapter in this fic and not it's predecessor was because it sheds a new light on Ginny. It shows her jealous bone and her readiness to do anything for Draco and both of those things will contribute to the story later.  
  
Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please review!!  
  
Oh yes and thank you to my betas: LadyBrannon, Lily_Among_the_Thorns_89, 


	2. Some Family Trees Bear anEnormous Crop o...

For The Sake Of The Baby  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Some Family Trees Bear an Enormous Crop of Nuts  
  
Disclaimer: I own the characters you do not recognize. Namely Chloe, Elizabeth, Mara, Bailey, Bella, Sophie, Rachel, Andrew, Chris and Danica so far. All else belongs to JK who is making money. I am not. Sometimes I feel like I should though.  
  
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing for the first chapter! It's already more than the amount of people who reviewed for my first chapter last time. Well, not collectively, just right off the bat. Anyway, that's enough rambling. To the question of whether or not I'm going to use the photograph idea later, yes I will! It's already written in and everything! I'm sorry that I took so long, I was on vacation in Cancun and some of my beta readers were vacationing too so it took a bit longer, but I don't mind! I hope it was worth the wait! Okay, but anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter a bunch!  
  
Thanks a whole lot to my amazing betas: LadyBrannon, Lily_Among_the_Thorns_89, Beachbabe4214, Innocent, Charlene (dancingchopstix), and Megan  
  
Here it goes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Some Family Trees Bear and Enormous Crop of Nuts  
  
"Draco?" Narcissa asked cautiously, not knowing how Draco had changed, she hoped he would answer her.  
  
"Yes, Mother?"  
  
"Who was that girl I saw you with at the Platform?"  
  
"Ginny." Draco answered blatantly.  
  
"Weasley?" Narcissa asked, shocked. There had been numerous occasions on which Draco had openly insulted the family. She remembered scolding him, as well, for making fun of what they couldn't help.  
  
"Yes." Draco answered, not really wanting to get into this at the moment. It's not that he was ashamed; he knew his mother would want all the details and he just wasn't sure that this was the right time. It would cause a scene. Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice in the matter.  
  
"So, are you two friends?" she urged.  
  
"Yes." Draco said, still holding out in hoping that his mother would just drop it until they got home at least.  
  
"Are you more than friends? I saw you kiss her."  
  
"Yes, Mum. Ginny is my girlfriend." The blonde boy gave in and told her.  
  
"Oh, that's marvelous, Draco!" Narcissa exclaimed loudly, causing the cab driver to flinch.  
  
"I know, Mum."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So? What?"  
  
"What's she like?" Narcissa asked.  
  
"She's amazing. Beautiful, smart, funny, carefree - although that's not always a good thing and she loves me." Draco told his mother quickly, dropping his façade.  
  
Narcissa was delighted. She could hardly remember the last time that Draco had been this happy; he had been very young. On second thought, he'd never really had a girlfriend she completely approved of before either.  
  
"Do you love her?" she asked.  
  
"Very much." Draco said, making eye contact with his mother as if to show his honesty on the matter. His eyes said he was loyal and caring, that he would do anything to prove his love for Ginny.  
  
"Oh, how lovely!" his mother squealed. Suddenly a thought came to her. "I have a surprise for you when we arrive at the Manor."  
  
"Oh really?" Draco asked, shocked at this news.  
  
"You'll love it." Narcissa smiled contentedly.  
  
A few minutes later, they arrived at the manor. Draco pulled his luggage and owl out of the trunk of the car.  
  
Narcissa quickly paid the driver what was owed and then walked up to the doors. She unlocked the large mahogany doors on the white manor and peered in. She saw Draco's surprise and signaled to the big surprise.  
  
"Hey Mum, let's go in shall we? I mean we do live here." Draco grunted under the weight of his luggage.  
  
"Oh yes! Do come in dear."  
  
"Thanks, I guess." Draco said looking very confused. He walked into the house and saw that it had definitely been made more comfortable looking now that it was just his Mum. He was about to comment on this when something, or SOMEONE rather, came crashing into him and threw their arms around his waist.  
  
"Drakie!" A small high voice squealed.  
  
By now all of Draco things had fallen to the floor, and he had a good view of the person attached to his waist.  
  
"Bailey!" Draco exclaimed, picking up a small, fragile blonde girl and hugging her tightly.  
  
"Hi Drakie! Will you play dolls with me?" She asked innocently as she clung to his neck.  
  
"Sure, but we'll have to wait until a little bit later!" Draco told her as he pulled Bailey away from him and set her on the floor. It had been forever since he'd seen his little sister.  
  
His family had Veela blood running through its veins and it was obvious that Bailey, like Draco, had inherited that gene. Her hair was so blonde it was almost silver and it curled at the ends. He saw that she let it grow to her waist. Of course, it was possible that BAILEY had not let it grow but simply had not cared, as most five year olds don't. Bailey had tiny bone structure and the gray eyes that were the Malfoy trademark.  
  
However, Bailey's eyes were very unlike how Draco's eyes used to be. Her eyes were friendly and mischievous with a hint of mystery. They were caring and happy-go-lucky, not cold and relentless. Draco was thrilled to say that his eyes were now, happy and fun too. Hopefully, Bailey would always be bubbly.  
  
Bailey grabbed Draco's hand and began to lead him toward the bathroom down the hall. Once inside, she pointed to the marble sink expectantly.  
  
"Wash your hands." she demanded.  
  
Draco rolled up his sleeves and turned on the water.  
  
"So, how long have you been home?" Draco asked her.  
  
"I came home when Mommy was lonely." Bailey replied matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips.  
  
'So, she came home after Father died. Mum must have missed her, too.' Draco thought as he dried his hands. "Why did I have to wash my hands?" he questioned her.  
  
"We're eating."  
  
"So? You don't think I would have washed my hands?"  
  
"Bella says to wash your hands." Bailey told Draco spreading her arms out exasperatedly before putting them on her hips once more.  
  
"Bella's back?" Draco stammered.  
  
"Duh, Drakie." The little girl answered as though it was the stupidest question she'd ever been asked.  
  
Bailey took Draco's hand and led him down the hall and through the kitchen doors.  
  
"Good evening Master Malfoy." Bella's kind old voice greeted them.  
  
"Bella!" Draco cried out, losing all control and hugging the house elf. Never before in his life had he ever hugged a house elf, but this was Bella. It was like when he was small and he had lost his favorite toy. Once he found it, he was so ecstatic that he carried it around with him for days, protecting it. He found his childhood companion whom he lost so many years ago.  
  
"Master Malfoy, if you would please stop squeezing Bella so."  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry Bella." Draco said releasing his old friend.  
  
"My, how you've grown Master." Bella observed as she put the plates on the table. "Last Bella saw Master, Master was only Miss Bailey's age."  
  
"Yeah, I was. I was also really naïve. I'm so sorry for not listening to you, Bella."  
  
"It is okay, Bella assures you, for Bella is back again."  
  
"How?" Draco asked.  
  
"Your mother bought Bella back from the family Bella was working for. She said she knew how much Master Malfoy had loved Bella." The old elf explained, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Bella, can I have chocolate for dinner?" Bailey asked suddenly.  
  
Bella turned her big blue eyes on her.  
  
"No, you may not Miss Bailey."  
  
"But Bella, why not?" the small girl whined.  
  
"It is not a suitable meal for a growing girl!" Bella rationalized.  
  
"I wish I would stop growing then." Bailey pouted. "Please Bella! I'll be really good!"  
  
"No. But Bella will make Miss Bailey some chocolate milk. How's that?" The house elf compromised. Draco watched this scene play out before him and recognized it as something that used to occur quite often when he was young.  
  
Bella then turned her attention to Draco.  
  
"What would Master Malfoy like to eat?" She asked kindly.  
  
"Spaghetti sounds delicious actually." Draco said. "And just call me Draco, Bella."  
  
"Whatever you wish, Draco." Bella said uncertainly. "What would you like Miss Bailey?"  
  
"Just call me Bailey." She said, imitating her older brother. "And I want whatever Drakie's having!"  
  
"Okay, Bailey. You two go and play while Bella fixes Draco and Bailey supper. Go on! Off with you!" She said, shooing them out of the kitchen.  
  
Bailey and Draco entered the hall once more, not knowing what to do next.  
  
"Drakie! Come see my room! I got new toys!" Bailey demanded, pulling her big brother behind her.  
  
"Who would give YOU new toys?" Draco teased as they bounded up the grand staircase and into a large pink, yellow and white room.  
  
"Mommy!"  
  
"Well, what are we going to do about that?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrow at all her toys. There was a large dollhouse in the middle of the room that had about 50 very detailed rooms just big enough for the custom made dolls. Life-sized teddy bears lined the wall and a magic teacup set was put together and set atop Bailey's massive oak toy chest.  
  
"We ask for more!"  
  
'She really is spoiled.' Draco smirked to himself as he sat down to play dolls with his beloved little sister.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hello!" Molly called throughout the Burrow.  
  
There was a sudden pitter-patter that could be heard stampeding towards the three Weasley that had just arrived.  
  
"Inny!" a small girl screeched, running recklessly through the halls of the Burrow, coming to a halt temporarily before flinging herself into Ginny's arms.  
  
"Sophie!" Ginny squealed, twirling her niece around the entrance hall.  
  
Sophie had grown up so much since Ginny had seen her last summer. Bill and Fleur had gotten married soon after Fleur had graduated. Shortly after their marriage, Fleur had become pregnant with Sophie Rayne. The last time Ginny saw Sophie she was only two years old. Now, she was three (almost four) and already had Fleur's Veela-like features, to include long silvery hair that grew at an unreasonably rapid rate. But Sophie; did have a faint few freckles across the bridge of her nose, and the big brown Weasley eyes.  
  
"Inny! I missed you!" the three year old said excitedly, wrapping her arms around her aunt and burying her face into her neck.  
  
"I missed you too, Fee."  
  
"Gins!" A booming voice greeted from behind her.  
  
"Virgeenia." An elegant French accent purred.  
  
The redhead turned around to see Bill and Fleur. Bill opened his arms as Ginny set his only daughter on the floor. Bill swooped up his baby sister into his arms.  
  
"How's my favorite sister doing?" Bill asked setting her back down.  
  
"I'm your only sister. I'm doing pretty well. Very well, actually." Ginny assured her oldest brother. "In fact, I have some great news for you all - but we'll get to that at dinner so I can tell everyone at once."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it, Gins." The eldest Weasley son said. He put his arm around Fleur before turning more serious. "You gave us all quite a scare earlier this year."  
  
"I know Bill; really I'm sorry about that whole thing."  
  
"At least someone was looking out for you though, even if it was Malfoy."  
  
"He's like my guardian angel." Ginny said.  
  
Bill raised his eyebrows, but paid no further attention as the rest of the Weasley family came into view.  
  
First there was Charlie and his wife Rachel, holding their one-year-old twin boys, Andrew and Chris.  
  
Charlie had met the tall brunette in Romania and had instantly fallen in love with her big green eyes and loving attitude. She acted an awful lot like Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Andrew! Chris!" She said, squatting down to hug her redheaded nephews. Somehow, she figured they'd turnout to be just like Fred and George.  
  
Speaking of which.  
  
"Fred! Angelina! George! Katie Bell!"  
  
"Ginny!"  
  
"My, my Angelina, you are looking VERY pregnant, now aren't you?" Ginny exclaimed upon seeing her sister-in-law who looked as though she'd had a beach ball shoved under her shirt.  
  
"Due to come any day now!" She said joyfully patting her stomach.  
  
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Ginny asked. "Or, do you not want to know?"  
  
"We'd much rather it be a surprise. We've just been calling it Yahootie for now. We will continue to call it that until it's born; you can't keep going on calling it 'it' the whole nine months." Angelina giggled.  
  
"Yahootie?" Ginny questioned as they all moved into the living room and sat down.  
  
"Fred's idea entirely."  
  
"Imagine that."  
  
"In! In! In!" The pair of redheaded one-year-olds chorused, trying to regain their aunt's attention.  
  
"What guys?"  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
"What does that mean?" Ginny asked Rachel.  
  
"They're trying to tell you 'Hello' but it just doesn't come out right yet. They can only say a few things."  
  
"They're so cute!" Ginny told Rachel.  
  
Then she turned to George and Katie and said, "No children for you two yet, huh?"  
  
"Hopefully, in a little while but I've got to get George to grow up before we can even start worrying about kids." Katie laughed, nudging George.  
  
"Don't let her fool ya, Gin. It's really HER who needs to grow up." He said shoveling pasties into his mouth.  
  
"Whatever!"  
  
Ginny got up and went into the family dining room to find a VERY bored Ron, Lavender, Harry and Hermione sitting at the table with their fists on their cheeks or heads propped up on one arm as they listened to an extremely animated Percy go on about something that was making Mrs. Weasley swell with pride. (A/N: Since my last fic was even taking place after the Dream Team's fifth year, we're not going to add any of those incidents really. We can all just pretend for the sake of the fic that Percy saw the error of his ways.)  
  
Ginny draped her hand across his shoulder lovingly.  
  
"Still on about those cauldron bottoms are you, Perce?"  
  
"For your information, they have finally adjusted the cauldron bottom thickness; but now instead, they decreased the thickness of the sides." He said sounding slightly offended.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Can you believe that?"  
  
"Now Perce, why would anyone do something so heinous?" Ginny asked, attempting to hide her sarcastic tone.  
  
The four teenagers shook their head vigorously from behind Percy's turned back. Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say.  
  
Percy was just about to actually tell her who WOULD do something like that when Ginny interrupted him.  
  
"Hey listen, Perce; I've got to be upstairs unpacking. Maybe I'll see ya around later! Staying for dinner at least I hope!" She said receiving a nod and beginning to retreat up the stairs to her room. "Oh yeah, Percy, where's Penelope?" She asked, referring to Percy's fiancé, Penelope Clearwater.  
  
"Penny's taking a nap at the moment."  
  
"Oh, okay then!" the redhead answered jovially, running up the stairs.  
  
She was, however, stopped less than halfway up on her way to her bedroom by Fleur holding Sophie; who was asleep in her arms.  
  
"Hey Gin!" Fleur said with a thick French accent.  
  
"Hey Fleur, what's up?" Ginny asked her sister-in-law.  
  
"I was wondering eef you would be available to babyseet Sophie zis evening?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Sure Fleur! I'd love to!"  
  
"I must warn you zat she can be quite see 'andful!"  
  
"I can handle Sophie! But I may have a friend over here this evening and she may help, would that be alright?"  
  
"Of course! It will be around eight o' clock!" Fleur said, heading back into her room with Sophie.  
  
Ginny took the rest of the steps at a running pace and stepped into her cozy little room.  
  
She admired her room lovingly, knowing she was home at last. Her walls were sponged light yellow and white and bore several framed pictures of her and her brothers. There was one of her and Ron when they were younger and they were playing with the things on their father's desk at the ministry. Another featured all of her brothers and her, beaming at each other in front of the Burrow.  
  
When Ginny looked at this photo, she laughed. Ron was wearing his Chudley Cannons jumper - one of many - and admiring himself self consciously; Charlie had a large pair of Draco hide boots and was hopping up and down; trying vigorously to put them on as Bill stood next to him, holding a book of curses that he was studying intently, shooting Charlie a very angry glare every now and again. Fred and George, at first glance appeared innocent, but then would slip a firecracker into Percy's back pocket every now and then - obviously waiting for the perfect moment to set them off. Percy seemed unaware of this and stood there smiling in as dignified a way as he knew. Then there was Ginny herself, holding her favorite doll, Caroline, to her chest and watching the commotion around her with laughter in her eyes.  
  
Ginny moved her eyes past all the photos and saw her bookshelf, which was about to collapse under the weight of the romance novels that stocked the shelves. There was an antique dollhouse in the corner, next to her dresser.  
  
Finally, Ginny's eyes rested upon her favorite piece of furniture, which sat between her nightstand and her rocking chair. Her bed had a yellow quilt and white pillows. It was no canopy, but it was hers.  
  
She saw that her trunk had been placed at the foot of her bed. The brown- eyed girl dug out her quill and some parchment; it was time to invite Chloe over for her babysitting escapade.  
  
Dear Chloe,  
  
It is barely summer and I'm already writing to you! Bet you hadn't expected a letter so soon! Anyway, you need to come over tonight! I have to baby sit my niece, Sophie, and I can't do it on my own! I need to talk to you. You can spend the night if you like, but reply ASAP!  
  
Lots of Love,  
  
Ginny  
  
"Pigwidgeon!" She called at the top of her lungs and received an absolutely overjoyed owl that would have fit easily into the palm of her hand, or at least she figured he would; she never really got him to hold still long enough to test her theory.  
  
With great difficulty, the redhead attached the letter to Pig's leg and sent him off into the evening sky.  
  
"Ginny! Time for dinner!" Ron bellowed as he passed her door. She had to wonder how he knew that, as their mother had not called up the stairs yet. But then, Ron always knew when food was waiting.  
  
Ginny knew that now was the time to inform the rest of her family about Draco.  
  
"Here goes nothing." She said to herself as she walked down the stairs and towards her doom.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Drakie, I'm hungry." Bailey announced throwing down her doll in disgust and turning to face her big brother anxiously.  
  
"Well Bailey, it's nearly six; so, it's almost time for supper. Why don't you go get changed and washed up and I'll meet you down in the dining room in ten minutes?" he compromised.  
  
"Okay, Drakie! Last one to the dining room is a rotten leg!"  
  
Draco smiled at Bailey's misinterpretation and left the room to change into his best black robes for dinner. At Malfoy Manor, you were always expected to dress in robes for supper; and they must be nice.  
  
Draco bounded down the marble stars only to find Bailey entering the dinging room just ahead of him. He'd never hear the end of it.  
  
As he entered the dining room, he was glad to see that his mother had replaced the foolishly long dining room table with a much smaller elegant rectangular one.  
  
"Ha! Ha! Drakie's a rotten leg!" Bailey cried giggling madly.  
  
"That's EGG, dear." Bella corrected, bustling to set the table.  
  
"Right." Bailey agreed sarcastically rolling her big gray eyes at Draco before leaning in to whisper in his ear. "Doesn't she know anything?"  
  
Draco shrugged his shoulders to humor his sister as his mother walk in dressed in very elegant robes of blue.  
  
"Hello, Draco.Bailey."  
  
"Hello, Mum."  
  
"Hi, Mommy!" Bailey squealed.  
  
"What have you two been doing?" Narcissa asked.  
  
"Drakie played dolls with me!"  
  
"Oh, he did?" Narcissa asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, he's good at playing dollies!"  
  
"Draco, I must say, I'm very impressed with your behavior. It has improved so much over this last year!" Narcissa complimented her son. It was true that even though Draco loved his mother and sister a lot; he was not exactly ever that nice to them. If Lucius were around, then Draco would have to act nasty to them. If he wasn't around, then Draco didn't know what to say because he wasn't allowed to show any affection.  
  
Bella brought in the pasta and drinks (to include Bailey's chocolate milk, she so desired.) and set them on the table in front of them.  
  
"Bella, do sit down with us! We've got so much catching up to do!" Narcissa exclaimed. She meant with Draco and Bella, as the others were already caught up.  
  
Draco was in total shock. They had never eaten with a house elf before. But once again, this was different; this was Bella.  
  
Bella grabbed a chair and sat down quietly, trying not to make too much noise or interrupt their dinner.  
  
"Momma, was Drakie a bad boy before?" Bailey questioned with a noodle hanging out of her mouth.  
  
"Sometimes sweetie, though it was not entirely his fault." Narcissa answered.  
  
"Daddy was a VERY bad boy wasn't he?"  
  
"Very much so."  
  
"Is Drakie a good boy, now?" Bailey asked, acting almost as though Draco wasn't even in the room.  
  
"It would appear so. I think it was that girl that changed him." Narcissa said.  
  
"Girl?" Bella asked.  
  
"Yes! Hasn't Draco told you? He's got himself a girlfriend! And a good one at that!" Narcissa exclaimed.  
  
"Drakie's got a girlfriend! Drakie's got a girlfriend!" Bailey sang.  
  
"Is that so? Hope he treats her well." Bella said sternly, obviously remembering the abuse that the last Malfoy male she worked for inflicted upon his lover.  
  
"I do." Draco said. 'Or at least, I think I do.' He thought to himself.  
  
"She's cute as a button, too." Narcissa added with pride. With all this talk, you would have thought Draco and Ginny were getting married.  
  
"So, what does she look like?" Bella asked, enthralled.  
  
"She has beautiful curly auburn hair almost to her waist with big brown eyes and a few freckles across her nose. Thin, but not sickly thin." Narcissa recalled.  
  
"Nice girl, I hope?"  
  
"I think so, but I've never met her. It's Virginia Weasley." Narcissa added.  
  
Both females were acting as though Draco was not present, which really did not bother him all that much. They, however, had to talk rather loudly over Bailey's slurping. The little girl was sucking down her chocolate milk like there was no tomorrow.  
  
"Haven't met her?" Bella exclaimed. "That's not proper at all!"  
  
"No I suppose not!"  
  
"You have a right to judge your son's new taste. I propose you invite her for lunch tomorrow."  
  
"I think I will Bella!" Narcissa said, eyes shining with joy and determination.  
  
Draco dropped his fork and left the table quietly as Bella and his mother began to discuss all the arrangements.  
  
"Now mother will be all snappy tomorrow and she'll probably lock me in my room so I can't even see Ginny! What good does that do ME?" Draco mumbled to himself.  
  
He WOULD find a way to see Ginny tomorrow, no matter the cost.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny took her place at the table between Lavender and Hermione quietly. She noticed that everyone was waiting rather impatiently for Ginny so they could start eating.  
  
"Bout time." Ron grumbled, reaching across Lavender for the rolls.  
  
"Sorry." Ginny said sardonically.  
  
Dinner was going along nicely when Bill suddenly decided it was time for Ginny to speak.  
  
"Gin said she had some great news to tell us at dinner and dinner's almost over, so I think it's time we knew."  
  
"Before I begin, Ron could you run out to the chickens and fetch me an egg for tomorrow's breakfast?" Ginny asked.  
  
"But Gin! I wanna know!" Ron whined.  
  
Ginny leaned over to whisper in his ear.  
  
"You already know, it's about Draco."  
  
"Oh yeah. That whole friendship thing. Fine." Ron agreed, leaping up to go get the egg.  
  
"Okay," Ginny said after seeing Ron race out the door. "I've got a boyfriend."  
  
There was a loud chorus of "that's great Gin's" before Charlie asked the question she'd been waiting for.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Harry, Hermione, Lavender, Arthur and Molly grinned and waited for everyone's reactions.  
  
"Draco Malfoy."  
  
"That git?"  
  
"Gin, that's dangerous."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He saved her life."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So obviously, he's decent."  
  
"I don't care, it's Malfoy."  
  
"He's not like his father. He's amazing and I love him." Ginny explained.  
  
"We'll give him one chance." Bill said. She knew Draco only got the one chance because he HAD saved her life.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"So, what'd I miss?" Ron asked barging back in.  
  
"Nothing." Ginny said, cutting everyone else off. "I forgot that I wanted TWO eggs. Could you run out and get another?"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes and mumbled something about "owing him big" but left once more.  
  
"I forgot to mention that Ron doesn't know."  
  
"He thinks they're just friends." Harry added.  
  
"So don't say anything." Hermione finished.  
  
Everyone nodded and began to eat their apple pie quietly.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
When Ginny got back to her room, she found two owls waiting for her on her bed. One was tawny and she recognized it as Chloe's. She quickly tore open the letter.  
  
Gin,  
  
Course, I'll help you! Se ya later! I'll come around 7:30 tonight!  
  
Your sister from a different mister,  
  
Chloe  
  
The second owl was Anessa, Draco's owl. But the letter was not from Draco - but from his mother.  
  
Virginia,  
  
I would be delighted if you would join me for a late morning tea and lunch tomorrow, I have heard of your relationship with my son and I must say that I'm delighted! I hope to see you tomorrow around eleven?  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Narcissa Malfoy  
  
"Oh dear." Ginny sighed, collapsing on her bed, exhausted.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Oh wow! That was a long chapter! I hope you guys didn't mind! Anyway, everyone knows about Draco and Ginny's relationship now! Well, except for and there's a good reason for that! You also know whom the little ones that Draco and Ginny came home to are and now things will start to pick up and get interesting!  
  
Please leave me a review!! Thanks guys!! 


	3. Children Seldom Misquote You

Chapter 3  
  
Children Seldom Misquote You, In Fact They Repeat Word for Word What You Shouldn't Have Said  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
PG13 - Just to be on the safe side.  
  
Author's Notes: Okay so this chapter is up! Finally! I'm having problems trying to keep this up in a timely manner because I've taken on a much harder load in school than previously. More advanced classes and things that take up extra time outside of school, but don't worry I will always keep you updated, just not as fast as The Girl All The Bad Guys Want. I'm sorry for that but at least it'll last longer! My AP World History class is killing me. Just this weekend alone I have like 60 pages of reading or more! But I hope that you enjoy this chapter! This is both one of my favorite chapters and my least favorite; I'm torn so when you've read it, tell me what you think please!  
  
Oh yes! And thank everyone so so so so so so so so much for all the wonderful reviews that you've left me so far! I really love reading them! They light up my day! If you want me to send you an email when I update you please leave your email addy or email me at shaunajoy6@hotmail.com if you would rather not display your email address! Thanks!  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Last time: Ginny and Draco both told their families and you got introduced to the new Weasleys and Draco's little sister Bailey!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Children Seldom Misquote You, In Fact They Repeat Word for Word What You Shouldn't Have Said.  
  
"Gin! Wake up sleepy head!" a honey sweet voice called.  
  
When Ginny didn't stir, Chloe decided to try again. This time she wouldn't be so nice about it.  
  
"Hey! Get your lazy butt out of bed! It's evening!" she yelled into the redhead's ear while poking her in the side.  
  
"Wha -?"  
  
"Gin, it's Chloe! Time to get up! You know, this is quite a turn around from what usually happens. I don't believe that I've ever actually woken someone up before - usually I'm being woken up." Chloe rambled.  
  
"Fine, Chloe!" Ginny surrendered loudly.  
  
"So, why are you so snippy at this time of night anyway?" the blonde asked while looking at Ginny's pictures.  
  
"I didn't mean to," Ginny defended, "but, I got another piece of mail at the same time I received your letter and it shocked me. I was stressed out so, I flopped down on my bed and accidentally fell asleep."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"A letter from Narcissa Malfoy."  
  
"Why?" Chloe gasped.  
  
"She wants to have tea and lunch tomorrow."  
  
"With you?"  
  
"No Chloe, with Fudge, but she thought she'd tell me." Ginny said sarcastically, "Yes with me!"  
  
"Jeez, sorry! So, what are you going to do?" Chloe asked, sitting on Ginny's bed.  
  
"I'll go. Draco and I love each other and we obviously don't have to hide our feelings as we've already told our parents. Well, at least I'm assuming he has," Ginny answered, "I shouldn't be childish and scared about this."  
  
"Good answer."  
  
"What time is it anyway?" the redhead asked curiously.  
  
"Eight o'clock." Chloe replied.  
  
"Oh wow! We have to start babysitting now!"  
  
The girls hurried down the steps to find everyone standing in the kitchen, ready to Apparate.  
  
"We'll be at the musical if you need anything dears; here's a number you can reach us at." Molly assured them, handing Ginny a slip of paper.  
  
"How'd you get tickets to a muggle event like this?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Hermione's parents gave them to us as a thank you for keeping her for a few weeks this summer." Arthur said gleefully.  
  
"So, what do you girls plan on doing tonight?" Bill asked, handing Sophie over to Ginny.  
  
"Maybe we'll try a movie."  
  
"On the felly-fission?" Arthur questioned, looking almost as though he'd rather stay home and watch TV instead of going to the musical. Mrs. Weasley did not allow anyone to watch it more than once every few weeks. She didn't approve of it and thought that it would warp your brain if you watched it too often.  
  
"Television, Dad, and you go to the musical. I'm sure it'll be a million more times exciting as a movie."  
  
"Yeah, I expect we'll get some Krinoculars!" he replied excitedly before hastily Disapparating.  
  
"Bye, dears!" Molly said following Arthur.  
  
After everyone else had left, Sophie spoke up.  
  
"Movie! Movie!" she chanted.  
  
"Yes, Fee, we'll get there. Which one would you like to watch?" Ginny asked.  
  
"That one!" Sophie said pointing to Beauty and the Beast.  
  
"Oh great."  
  
"Watch it often?" Chloe teased.  
  
"That's the only thing every little girl who's been over here wants to watch." Ginny explained. "It's a muggle movie obviously but it does have a bit of magic in it at least."  
  
Ginny popped in the video and hit play. She set her niece down on a fluffy chair in the corner; she and Chloe took the couch next to it.  
  
"So Gin, what are you going to wear tomorrow?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Those really great jeans I bought for the first dance."  
  
"You mean the tight, very low rise ones?" Chloe asked doubtfully.  
  
"Yes - why?"  
  
"Really think Draco's mum will like those?" Chloe asked raising an eyebrow.  
  
"I'll charm them so they don't seem so bad to her." Ginny said with pride in having all of that through already.  
  
"Okay, so what shirt then?"  
  
"I'm not sure yet." Ginny said mentally envisioning all of her shirts before she remembered a shirt she'd never won before. "I know!"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"Well, it's a dark green tee shirt with a little pocket on the front of it and a V-neck that doesn't dip down very low. It's a small shirt but it covers my stomach for the most part." Ginny described.  
  
"Sounds perfect! It's even a Slytherin color." Chloe said.  
  
"I know, but that's not entirely on purpose. I've been told that that shade of green looks really good on me." Ginny said.  
  
"I'll help you accessorize and do your hair in the morning!" Chloe said excitedly.  
  
"Great!"  
  
"Hey, Gin," Chloe giggled, "Sophie appears to be asleep."  
  
Sure enough, the small blonde girl had her feet hanging off one arm of the chair and her head rested on the other. Her mouth was wide open and she was snoring lightly.  
  
"Not even fifteen minutes into the movie and look what's happened!" Ginny laughed turning off the VCR and TV and scooping Sophie up quietly. "You can stay down here if you like, I'll be right back."  
  
Chloe nodded and awaited Ginny's return patiently as she looked around. When Ginny did reach the bottom of the stairs, she laughed out loud.  
  
"What?' Chloe asked.  
  
"You have this funny look on your face!"  
  
"Gee, thanks."  
  
"No problem." Ginny said as she walked into the living room where Chloe stood.  
  
"I was just thinking about how much I love your house, Gin. It's incredibly warm and cozy. I feel almost more at home here than I do at my house." Chloe said marveling at the clock.  
  
She'd been here many times in the past few years but each time she visited she found something that was even more extraordinary than the last.  
  
"Thanks." Ginny beamed, taking it as a compliment.  
  
Both girls were tired already so after eating the rest of the apple pie, they trudged up the stairs and off to bed, both of them anxiously waiting for the next day.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I absolutely cannot believe this! Ginny's my girlfriend and I have had no say whatsoever in her visit." Draco ranted to himself that night on his way to tuck Bailey into bed.  
  
"Drakie!" she squealed, sitting up in her bed and greeting him with a bright smile.  
  
"Bailey!" he shrieked, mocking her tone of voice.  
  
"Will you read me a story?"  
  
"Sure, which one?"  
  
"This one!" his blonde haired sister exclaimed, handing Draco a book with a princess on the front. It was a muggle book, of course, by the name of Cinderella.  
  
"Okay, hop into bed and I'll sit next to you and read until you go to sleep." Draco told her.  
  
Bailey took this order literally and began to bunny-hop across the room and back into her bed. She pulled her covers up to her chin and closed her eyes.  
  
"I'm WAITING, Drakie!"  
  
"Coming, your Highness." Draco said as he jumped onto her bed and settled himself down next to her. He opened the book and began to read, "Once upon a time."  
  
Draco stole a glance at his baby sister before carrying on and saw that the little bugger was already sawing logs.  
  
"There was a princess who lived happily ever after. The end." Draco said hurriedly, closing the book quietly. He set it down on Bailey's nightstand carefully. Draco then gazed at his sister next to him. She looked so innocent and carefree. What he wouldn't have given to have grown up like that.  
  
Bit late for that now, though. He couldn't change what had already happened but he swore to himself at that moment that Bailey would have an amazing childhood and he would make sure of that.  
  
That night, Draco thought about a lot of things as he sat in his little sister's all pink room. Mostly he thought about Ginny. He hoped they would be together forever, no matter what. He was just thinking about all the things he was willing to sacrifice to be with her and when without even realizing where he was, the 16-year-old boy fell fast asleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny woke, at 6 o'clock in the morning on the day of her visit to the Malfoy Manor to the sound of her alarm clock.  
  
"Good morning, all you witches and wizards! This is Charles the Charmer with your 6 o'clock news before you Apparate to work!" came a cheery voice from the small black box next to her bed.  
  
"Oh shove it," the redhead mumbled as she smacked the off button and rolled over to find Chloe was still fast asleep. "Chloe, Get up!" Ginny said, in a zombie-like voice as she hit her friend in the face with a pillow.  
  
"Gin, it's too early."  
  
"I have to start getting read for tea and lunch with Mrs. Malfoy."  
  
"Yeah - in five hours." Chloe mumbled rolling over and closing her eyes, determined to go back to sleep.  
  
"Come on! It's breakfast time!" Ginny bribed.  
  
"Food?" Chloe asked coherently but without moving.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How about breakfast in bed?" Chloe bargained.  
  
"That'll cost you about two galleons." Ginny said, holding out her hand.  
  
"It's in my purse."  
  
"No," Ginny demanded hopping out of bed and pulling all the covers to the floor, "Get up!"  
  
"Fine!" Chloe said sitting up huffily, "but you owe me!"  
  
"I know!" Ginny said, walking out the door and down the stairs, a disheveled Chloe right behind her.  
  
The pair entered the kitchen to find that Molly had breakfast already on the table.  
  
"Morning girls, I've got toast, biscuits, eggs, gravy, sausage, pancakes, hash browns and omelets. There's orange juice on the table! Take whatever you want!" she said in an extremely chipper voice.  
  
"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Chloe mumbled, trying her best to sound more grateful and less tired.  
  
"What are you two doing up so early, anyway?" Mrs. Weasley questioned, seeing Ginny wipe the sleep from her eyes.  
  
"Ginny got an invitation last night." Chloe said with a mouthful of syrup- covered pancakes.  
  
"From whom?" Molly asked her only daughter curiously, setting down her pan.  
  
"Mrs. Malfoy..." Ginny said cautiously, "She wants me to have tea and lunch with her at the Manor today."  
  
"Oh Ginny, this is so exciting!" her mother gushed, "What time will you be leaving?"  
  
"At eleven." the redheaded girl said, "Chloe and I have to go upstairs so I can get ready."  
  
"Okay, you two have fun!"  
  
The teens ran up the stairs and into Ginny's room. Chloe was complaining that she barely had time to eat one pancake and that Ginny had a one-track mind.  
  
"So, the first thing to do is to get dressed." Chloe said, taking a seat on Ginny's bed as Ginny ran into the bathroom to change.  
  
"How do I look?" Ginny asked, striking a pose in the doorway upon re- entrance.  
  
"Positively stunning!"  
  
"Thank you! Now, we just need some shoes and jewelry." Ginny said, tapping her lips thoughtfully.  
  
"And you still need to do your hair and makeup." Chloe said, eyes moving from her friend's disheveled and frizzy red hair to her puffy sleep-filled brown eyes.  
  
"Oh my gosh! There's too much to do! I can't. Maybe I should just send an owl saying I'm sick! Would you vouch for me?" Ginny was frantic.  
  
"No, I most certainly would not! I would march right over there and tell them you are lying." Chloe told her calmly as she picked at her long nails, "You can do this! It's only like seven! You've still got a good four hours."  
  
"I know, I know." Ginny said, sighing heavily and collapsing on her bed next to Chloe.  
  
"Why are you so nervous anyway? It's just Draco."  
  
"Yeah, and his MOTHER!" Ginny exclaimed.  
  
"She sounds very nice." Chloe said reassuringly.  
  
"Meeting Narcissa Malfoy is already nerve racking being such an influential woman with so much power and wealth and then you go and add that she's my boyfriend's beloved mother!" the brown-eyed girl ranted exasperatedly.  
  
"Listen, Gin, I'm sure she'll love you! Everyone does! Just treat her as though she's a perfectly normal woman interested in her son's well-being." Chloe advised.  
  
"I just know I'll screw something up."  
  
"You won't."  
  
"Chloe, how do you know so much?" Ginny asked curiously.  
  
"I pick up on things other people don't. I'm a people-watcher and I'm your best friend. Plus, I think I want to be the first witch psychiatrist." she added.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. We have things to do." Chloe said jumping up and gathering makeup and hair things.  
  
"Right." Ginny confirmed, following Chloe into the bathroom where Ginny would transform from sleeping beauty to natural beauty.  
  
By 9 o'clock, Ginny's red hair now had redefined platinum highlights and was falling magnificently around her shoulders and down her back in curls. She was also rid of the bags under her eyes (of course that could have been due to the cappuccino Bill had brought in for them) and she had full lashes and green slightly sparkly eye shadow.  
  
"Ta da!" Chloe announced, pushing her in front of the slightly cracked mirror.  
  
"Oh it's really lovely Chloe! Thanks so much! I honestly don't know what I' would have done without you!" Ginny beamed, touching a lock of hair lightly.  
  
"Now for the next task, you need shoes, jewelry, accessories and a manicure." Chloe rattled off.  
  
The blonde grabbed a pair of shoes that had caught her eye earlier that morning.  
  
"Chloe, no!" Ginny argued. "Anything but those wretched shoes."  
  
Chloe was holding Ginny's cork sandals from the dances at Hogwarts during the previous year.  
  
"They'll look positively amazing with your outfit!"  
  
"Fine, but you owe me a foot massage later." Ginny grumbled, taking the God- forsaken shoes and slipping them on.  
  
"Okay, I was thinking that of course you'll wear your promise ring, but you should wear my necklace as well." Chloe insisted, thrusting forward her semi-elegant silver necklace with a small diamond pennant attached.  
  
"Oh Chloe, it's beautiful. Thanks!" Ginny said, taking it gently and examining it before placing it around her neck. They finished everything off with some medium-sized hoop earrings.  
  
The girls giggled and gossiped and before they knew it, ten o'clock was already there.  
  
"We'd better get cracking on those nails." Chloe said suddenly.  
  
And so.  
  
20 mess-ups  
  
15 corny jokes  
  
10 green and white dice painted fingernails  
  
Five reassuring talks  
  
Two threatening comments from Chloe and  
  
One hour later, Ginny was all set and ready to go.  
  
"Do be careful, honey, and have fun! Don't forget to mind your manners there!" Molly said tearfully hugging her daughter. "Meeting his mother. I can't believe it!"  
  
"It's okay, Mum. Really." Ginny reassured her as she got into the car that had been sent for her.  
  
"If I even get wind of your chickening out-" Chloe began.  
  
"You'd have to catch me first." Ginny said winking as the car door slammed and the driver got in.  
  
Ginny waved until her mother and best friend were out of sight. This trip promised to be very boring and lonely but nonetheless nerve racking.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco had awoken that morning at 9:30 to a very nasty surprise. He was laying in a frilly pink canopy, wrapped in princess covers and had bright red lipstick all over his face and even on his arms.  
  
"Bailey Gail Nicole Malfoy!" He boomed, sitting straight up before jumping out of the bed and after the streak of blonde hair that went zipping out the door at the sound of her full name.  
  
Finally, Draco caught up to his little sister and began to tickle her mercilessly.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked using one hand to point to his face and keeping the other holding her around her waist.  
  
"Mommy said you needed some color, so I gave you some." She said very fast in between giggles.  
  
Draco scooped her up into both arms and carried her back into her room.  
  
"Today, someone special is coming. Did you know that?" Draco asked upon setting her down next tom him on her bed.  
  
"It's not that Boldawart guy is it? Daddy brought him once and I didn't like him much." Bailey told him honestly making a scrunched up face at the thought.  
  
"No, it's not him." Draco assured her. "This time, it's a girl."  
  
"Oh yeah! I 'member now! Your girlfriend!" Bailey said excitedly.  
  
"Yes and her name is Ginny Weasley. You need to be nice to her okay?" Draco said, eyebrows shooting up.  
  
"Only if she's pretty. And nice." Bailey haggled, "You can't have an ugly girlfriend. And you ex-pecially can't have one that's mean to me."  
  
"Okay, it's a deal." Draco said, "She'll be here in about an hour and a half. Let's go see what Mum is doing."  
  
"Alright." Bailey agreed taking his hand and walking to the dining room with him.  
  
"Hello, dears." The tall blonde woman greeted her children.  
  
"Hi, Mum. How is everything?" Draco asked.  
  
"Almost perfect! I've got our best china cups and saucers for tea. Bella prepared a table on the balcony of the third floor for us that overlooks the garden. For lunch, we'll eat in here. You may join us for lunch, which will be promptly at twelve, but not for tea. The same applies for you, Bailey. Virginia seems lovely but I've never met her and I'd like for my first impression to be uninfluenced." Narcissa rattled on.  
  
Draco and Bailey exchanged furtive glances meaning she was crazy before nodding in reluctant agreement.  
  
"Good! Then, I should really go and get ready to meet Virginia!" Narcissa exclaimed, rushing off.  
  
"Nutters that one." Draco mumbled quietly.  
  
"Yeah, nutters." Bailey agreed rolling her eyes. "Drakie, what are we going to do during tea?"  
  
"Do you know how to fly?"  
  
"Drakie, don't be silly! Only birds can fly!" Bailey said laughing.  
  
"I meant on a broomstick." Draco said, taking his turn to roll his eyes.  
  
"Oh! No."  
  
"Then, we'll do that! I'll teach you."  
  
"Okay, Drakie!" Bailey said in concurrence.  
  
"I'm going to go take a shower and get dressed before we go flying and I propose you do the same thing," the tall boy advised, before leaving the pink-clad room once more.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco took as long as possible to get ready that morning, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of Ginny before his Mum took over.  
  
He saw the car his mother had sent for Ginny pull up and he dashed down the steps. Upon doing this he came to the realization that he would most definitely not be seeing Ginny before lunch.  
  
His mother had stopped him at the door and simply pointed in the direction from which he had come. Draco scowled before sauntering off to find Bailey.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny stepped out of the car and took in the beauty of the magnificent house before her. She had never seen such an amazing house before.  
  
Her heart was beating much too fast to be normal as she walked slowly up the path leading to the front door. Before she could even knock, the door flew open.  
  
"Virginia!" a tall blonde woman shrieked, opening her arms and enveloping her in a hug, "How lovely to see you!"  
  
"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy." Ginny smiled, as they pulled apart. She found it almost impossible not to immediately like this woman.  
  
"Oh nonsense! Call me Narcissa! I'm actually not too fond of that name either but it's the lesser of the two evils." the older woman laughed.  
  
Narcissa stood back to get a good look at her son's love interest.  
  
"My, my you ARE a very beautiful girl." she acknowledged.  
  
"Thank you." Ginny said quietly, feeling herself blush.  
  
"But enough small talk. Let's go in for some tea!" Narcissa ordered, closing the door and leading her through the hallways. "The Manor seems far too large nowadays for just the kids and me, but Draco insists we keep it. That is, however, easier said than done as we've got the Ministry in here getting all the dark magic and everything that goes with it out of here. It's far too much of a hassle to remember which rooms have curses when you despise the whole idea to begin with." she said.  
  
"That's understandable, of course." Ginny agreed, gazing around.  
  
"I'd just love to come and see your home someday. The Burrow, isn't it?" she asked. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Lucius always had something bad to say about it, but I think I'd rather enjoy it. I'd love to make the Manor look homey, but it will be difficult." Narcissa babbled, as she led Ginny through two huge glass doors, "Anyway, here's the balcony where we will have our tea because it's such a beautiful day. Come and sit, so we can talk more." Narcissa said gesturing to the chairs pulled up around the small round glass table.  
  
"Thank you." Ginny said nervously, still shocked from the comment about the Burrow.  
  
"So, do tell me, how is it that you and Draco first met?" Narcissa asked, pouring the tea for them.  
  
"We met on the school train. Well, I suppose we've met before, but this was when it all started. Just this past year." Ginny told her, "Before that, we hated each other."  
  
"What brought you together?"  
  
This was the question Ginny had been dreading. She didn't really want to tell Narcissa all about the Colin incident but she, of course, knew that it was to be expected.  
  
"He sort of walked in on something." she began.  
  
"What kind of something?" the older woman questioned, her eyebrows raised skeptically.  
  
"Colin, this boy I know from school, was - uh - forcing himself on me. Well, I mean, in a way." Ginny said, trying to sound respectful, "Anyway, Draco - er - fixed the problem and healed my lip. It surprised me because it was so out of character from every other encounter I'd ever had with him."  
  
"I always knew he could be nice if he wanted to!" Narcissa exclaimed, "So, did you start dating then?"  
  
"No, not for a while. When we finally did, it ended very abruptly."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Colin threatened us. We were trying to keep the whole thing a secret for a little bit and he had incriminating evidence. He said he would show it to the whole school if I didn't break if off with Draco and go out with him instead. It wasn't really what I wanted to do at all, but I did it so Draco wouldn't get into any trouble. I told him the reason I broke up with him was for another guy, only I didn't tell him who it was and under what conditions. As expected, he didn't take it very well and we ended." Ginny explained. "Then horrible things started happening with Colin. He would abuse me in any way you could possibly think. I stopped eating because I was so depressed and it took Draco and my best friend to notice what was going on. Unfortunately, it was a little too late."  
  
"Oh, dear, that's horrid, but you're back together now. Why?" Narcissa asked, "Or rather, how?"  
  
"I was put into the hospital because I fainted from lack of food. That night, Colin came in to my hospital room. He was drunk and angry that I went to the hospital wing when he had left so much proof of physical abuse on my body. He thought I was there to rat him out and he came to kill me. To make sure that didn't happen." Ginny said, "It was a whole bloody scene, but Draco came to my rescue and ended up saving my life. After being friends for a while, we finally started dating again. But this time, we started dating publicly."  
  
"It certainly sounds like you two have had a very rough year. Especially you, dear." Narcissa said, her eyes wide with understanding and sympathy to the younger girl before her.  
  
"Yes, but we both made it out okay in the end."  
  
"True love will always prevail. If you believe that you really are in love, that is."  
  
"I believe so." Ginny smiled honestly.  
  
"Marvelous! I cannot think of anyone I'd rather give up my son to!" Narcissa exclaimed, almost beside herself with delight.  
  
Ginny smiled pleasantly at the thought of being accepted by Narcissa.  
  
The two ladies chatted for a while about small things when Ginny remembered something she had been meaning to ask about for a long time.  
  
"Narcissa, earlier you said that the Manor was a bit too large for you and the kids; what did you mean kids? Who else is here besides you and Draco? If I may ask, of course."  
  
"Certainly!" she answered benignly, "You see, Draco has a younger sister named Bailey."  
  
Ginny remembered him telling her that now.  
  
"She has gone to small private schools elsewhere her whole life and she and Draco rarely get to see each other. After Lucius - may he burn - died, I decided she was not really old enough for school, unless you count kindergarten, so I pulled her out and surprised Draco by bringing her home. He loves her so much. I can tell he'll make a great father someday." Narcissa said with adoration.  
  
Almost as if on cue, Draco went zooming by on his new Firebolt holding a small blonde haired, gray-eyed girl to his chest. The girl seemed to be giggling profusely and, as they passed by, Ginny could just hear the girl squealing.  
  
"Drakie! Do it again! Do it again! Hi, Mommy!"  
  
"Draco Aidan Malfoy! I told you that you were not to come to tea!" Narcissa shouted at his quickly retreating back.  
  
"We're not staying, Mum!" Draco's voice trailed off before he rolled the broomstick once, making Bailey shriek with laughter.  
  
"That boy really needs to grow up. He ACTS dignified enough, but deep inside he's just a little boy." his mother said, half angry, half amused.  
  
"It keeps you guessing." Ginny added in his defense.  
  
"That's for sure. If he drops my little girl, I swear I will strangle him." Narcissa added.  
  
"I'm sure she'll be okay, so long as he doesn't do anything stupid -" Ginny began, but was promptly cut off seeing Bailey slip off the edge of the broom.  
  
Draco was all over it though. He was diving so fast he was sure to have whiplash. He stopped in midair and held out his arms to catch Bailey, who was still squealing in delight. Draco caught her with ease.  
  
"Drakie! Can we do that again? I was flying!"  
  
"No way. From now on, we'll stay on the ground - at least until you weigh enough to stay on by yourself. And by the way, that was FALLING, not FLYING." Draco told her grinning slightly at the last bit.  
  
"Same difference." the little girl pouted.  
  
"Not exactly." he assured her, flying slowly toward the ground with Bailey secured against his chest.  
  
Ginny then saw Mrs. Malfoy's reaction. She was completely white and almost appeared to have had a heart attack.  
  
"Draco! Bring her here!" she demanded.  
  
"No, Mum! Go back to your tea! You'll see her at lunch!" Draco called back.  
  
"It's nearly lunch time anyway." Narcissa noticed with eagerness to see her baby girl again, "We should go and get washed up."  
  
"Yeah." Ginny agreed.  
  
Both women got gracefully up from the table and walked through the large glass doors again. Narcissa showed Ginny to a bathroom before giving her directions to the dining room and leaving.  
  
"Thank you." Ginny said quietly before closing the door.  
  
She saw that she still looked as she had when she left The Burrow, not a hair out of place.  
  
She washed her hands before exiting the bathroom and abruptly ran into a large, masculine figure.  
  
"Oh wow! Sorry about that!" she apologized, looking down at the man's feet.  
  
"Don't' Weasels ever watch their step?"  
  
"Do ferrets?" she asked, her eyes flicking now up from his feet to the big gray eyes she knew well.  
  
"Gin." he said.  
  
"Draco." She regarded the blonde shortly. By the look on Draco's face, she knew he could hardly contain his elation in seeing her.  
  
Sure enough, seconds later he picked her up and hugged her tightly.  
  
"I missed you, Gin." Draco whispered in the redhead's ear.  
  
"It's only been a day, Draco." she said playfully, "But I missed you, too."  
  
"Good." he told her, setting her back down and lacing his fingers with hers. "Rightfully so."  
  
Ginny snorted with laughter at his haughty remark.  
  
"I don't think I'm supposed to be with you yet." Draco told his girlfriend. "It's like you have to tryout first or something. My mother is very eccentric as you've probably already noticed."  
  
"She just loves you very much and only wants the best for you. I can't really blame her." Ginny said looking up at him.  
  
"It's because I'm so devilishly handsome, isn't it?" he asked.  
  
"What does that have to do with the price of rice in China?"  
  
"Nothing," Draco said, looking slightly dumfounded. "When were we talking about the price of rice in China?"  
  
"It's just a saying. It means, 'what's that got to do with anything'? basically." Ginny explained.  
  
"Oh, well then, my answer remains the same, nothing." Draco said, jovially kissing her nose.  
  
Draco entered the dining room about two minutes ahead of Ginny to remove any suspicion that they were together.  
  
Ginny then walked into the dinging room. She had made it about ten steps when a streak of blonde hair came at her. It was a small gray-eyed girl.  
  
"Hi, I'm Bailey, but Drakie calls me Princess or Lee or sometimes, just as annoying as -"  
  
"Bailey!"  
  
"What's your name?" she asked curiously, her eyes alight with curiosity.  
  
Ginny was holding Bailey now, the small girl straddling her left hip so that they were eye level.  
  
"I'm Ginny Weasley."  
  
"Hi Ginny, I'm Bailey." she told her once more. "Does Drakie have any nicknames for you?"  
  
"Sometimes he calls me Gin or Virginia." Ginny answered.  
  
"Does he ever call you annoying as - "  
  
"Bailey!" Draco said warningly again.  
  
"I wouldn't put it past him." Ginny told Bailey, winking at her.  
  
"Drakie, I like her. Can we keep her?" the blonde girl begged her big brother.  
  
"I don't see why not." Draco said winking at Ginny.  
  
"Yay! Ginny, you can sleep in my room!" Bailey squealed.  
  
"Sit down, Turkey!" Draco said laughing.  
  
"Oh yeah, sometimes Drakie calls me Turkey, so I call him chicken and then he gets mad!" Bailey said for good measure as Ginny set her down and she ran to her seat across the table from Narcissa, who was watching this scene silently, but very happily.  
  
Ginny took her seat between Bailey and Narcissa and across from Draco.  
  
"Bella! We are prepared if you are." Mrs. Malfoy called.  
  
The house elf appeared through the double doors that separated the dining room and the kitchen with trays of food filled with fruits and a large pot containing chicken and dumplings.  
  
"What's to eat, Bella?" Bailey asked eagerly.  
  
"Chicken and dumplings and fruit." she said, setting the food on the table.  
  
"Can I have chocolate?" Bailey asked, her eyes full of sincerity and longing.  
  
"How about some chocolate milk instead?" the house elf reasoned.  
  
"Okay!"  
  
"Bella, this is Ginny." Narcissa introduced gesturing to the redhead who waved.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ginny." Bella bowed.  
  
"The pleasure is mine Bella, I assure you." Ginny told her kindly.  
  
"Okay, everyone, dig in!" Narcissa announced happily.  
  
After they had all eaten as much as they could, Narcissa started a conversation.  
  
"So Draco, Ginny told me how you met. It's quite an interesting story. Why did you not tell me?" she demanded.  
  
"I didn't want Lucius to know." he said simply.  
  
"And after the funeral?"  
  
"I just wanted to keep it quiet for a while."  
  
"Draco, do you know how much this means to me?" Narcissa asked teary-eyed.  
  
Draco nodded guiltily.  
  
"Bailey, please go and take a shower."  
  
"Mum, I don't take showers." Bailey pointed out.  
  
"So, take a bath."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts."  
  
"Fine," Bailey said grumpily. She'd never been asked to take a bath after lunch before, but she didn't question it any further.  
  
After Bailey left the room, Narcissa began to explain.  
  
"When Lucius was still alive, I was like his servant. If I messed up, I was punished. Thankfully, I rarely screwed up, but when I did I was beaten. Draco knew this." she said.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Narcissa." Ginny said with every ounce of sincerity and sympathy she possessed.  
  
"Don't' be, dear," Narcissa ordered, "It sounds as though you got it worse than I ever have. You deserved nothing. I feel so bad for you. So close to death."  
  
"Mother-" Draco tried to cut in. It was still a touchy subject with him.  
  
"Draco, don't interrupt me; I have more to say."  
  
"Yes, Mum."  
  
"I thought that Draco would surely turn out just like his father, so cold, ruthless and devoid of love or any feeling like it. I figured that he, too, would beat his wife and serve Voldemort. But this proves those thoughts wrong. He saved a woman from death by beating; he showed emotion. He showed me hatred for Voldemort; but most importantly, he showed me he could love. He loves you, Ginny, or he would not have done those things. You changed him." Narcissa finished.  
  
Ginny was speechless, her eyes flicking in the direction of Draco, who was carefully looking at anything else but Ginny.  
  
"Narcissa, really, I don't deserve all that credit." Ginny said quietly.  
  
"Without you, he would probably still be traveling the wrong path." Narcissa insisted. "I'm going to leave you two alone. I'm really glad you came today, Ginny, and you are welcome back anytime you want." he said before leaving the room.  
  
"Follow me." Draco said to Ginny. They walked towards Draco's room in silence.  
  
Ginny sat on his large bed, clad in dark green.  
  
"Draco, is it true? What she said?" she asked wearily.  
  
"Of course it is." Draco assured her, sitting down next to her.  
  
"I'm sorry about putting you through all that." Ginny apologized suddenly, looking deeply into his eyes.  
  
"All what?"  
  
"I mean, you had to see your mother being abused and then I go and get myself into all that mess." Ginny explained.  
  
"It doesn't matter, Gin. Don't dwell on the past. If I hadn't have met you or helped you on that first day, my life would be empty. You probably would have still found yourself in a predicament of some sort as Creevy would have found something to get you with." he told her softly running one hand through her fiery hair.  
  
"Thank you for doing so much for me."  
  
"Gin, it's not big deal. I love you. I love you so that much I can hardly explain it with words. I've never felt like this before. I, too, thought I was doomed. But you're my angel and I love you." he said caressing her face.  
  
"I love you, too, Draco. You mean the world to me." Ginny said.  
  
"Your car is here." Draco said suddenly, "Your family is waiting for you. Bye!" he told her, kissing her roughly.  
  
"Bye." Ginny said, before leaving his room and making her way back to the car that would take her home.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
There you go! I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry about the abrupt ending, I know some of you were hoping for a little more action probably but that was really kind of a chapter covering background info and introducing! Soon, some bigger things will happen! Anyhoo, leave me a review please and tell me what you like and what you don't and what you'd like to see happen or something you hope you'll never see happen! Thanks! 


	4. Three May Keep A Secret, If Two Of Them ...

Chapter 4 Three May Keep A Secret If Two Of Them Are Dead. For The Sake of The Baby Written by: Dracoscutie  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Disclaimer: Let's see. I own the plot and the few characters that you see that you don't recognize. These characters will be listed in full at the end of this fic, as I don't want to spoil anything! For now that would be Chloe Lynch, Sophie, Rachel, Andrew, Chris and Danica Weasley, Bailey Malfoy and now Byron Malfoy. But JK owns everything else basically. Lucky duck.  
  
Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I'm going to try and update fairly regularly now! Probably every week or so! Unless I have debate then it might be a bit late but hopefully a chapter every week or two. Okay, but anyway, thank you all who reviewed for the last chapter! I love reviews! At the end of this fic I will again recognize everyone who reviewed for me and remember, the more you review, the longer the thank you! Well so here's this chapter! Hopefully you'll like it! If you don't, then tell me - if you do, tell me! Now go read!  
  
Special thanks to my lovely beta-readers: LadyBrannon,  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter Four Three May Keep a Secret, If Two Of Them Are Dead.  
  
Last time: Ginny met Narcissa Malfoy and they exchanged their pasts. Ginny also had the pleasure of meeting Bailey.  
  
~  
  
When Ginny walked into the Burrow after her extremely long and exhausting car ride, she found that almost everyone was sleeping. Well, everyone except a plump, redheaded lady and a slim, blonde girl who were eating pie in the cozy kitchen.  
  
"So?" Chloe and Molly asked expectantly.  
  
"It went well. Narcissa really liked me, I think." Ginny told them excitedly, pulling up a chair at the large table across from her friend and her mother. "Did I tell you that Draco has a little sister?"  
  
"Really?" Chloe asked disbelievingly. "How does that whole thing work out for him?"  
  
"He really loves her from what I can see."  
  
"Did you have a good time?" Molly asked eagerly.  
  
"Yeah! It was really fun and not nearly as stressful as I had been picturing. Narcissa was extremely nice to me! And Bailey, his little sister, cracks me up." Ginny said, laughing slightly as she reminisced.  
  
"That's wonderful, sweetie!" Molly exclaimed, patting her daughter's hand lovingly.  
  
After talking for quite sometime, Chloe headed home and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went up to bed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Eventually everything died down at the Burrow and the weeks of the long, hot summer went by rapidly. Before they knew it, September 1st was just around the corner. Soon enough Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny would be at King's Cross Station, ready to board the Hogwarts Express once more.  
  
Ginny and Draco had been owling each other throughout the summer; Ginny writing some mushy letters and Draco trying not to sound sappy in his.  
  
The same day that Ron and Ginny received their Hogwarts letters, complete with booklists and everything, Ginny got a very important letter from Draco.  
  
Gin~  
  
I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. My cousin on the Malfoy side, Byron, is coming to Hogwarts this year. I know that may not sound like an awful thing but if you thought I was arrogant - wait till you meet him! He's a big lady's man, if you know what I mean. Stay away from him at all costs. This year should be interesting. See you at Diagon Alley.  
  
Love you,  
  
Draco  
  
"Great, just what I need, another Malfoy running around. I can hardly handle the one I've got!" Ginny mumbled to herself.  
  
"We're going to Diagon Alley in ten minutes, Ginny! If you need to get yourself ready, then do so now." Arthur called up the stairs.  
  
Ginny was running down the steps moments later when she saw Sophie standing in front of her, ready to greet her, so she stopped.  
  
"Inny? Can I go too?" the little girl asked quietly.  
  
"Sure, you can go, Fee! Let's go get you ready real fast." Ginny said, taking Sophie by the hand.  
  
In five minutes time, Sophie's hair was brushed and she was wearing a set of brilliant silver robes and Ginny and Sophie were walking down into the kitchen of the burrow.  
  
"Who said YOU could go?" Ron asked his niece good-humoredly.  
  
"Inny did." Sophie retorted confidently putting her small hands on her lips as if she were challenging Ron to reply.  
  
"Well, whatever she says goes." Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Course it does." Ginny told him importantly as she popped a piece of toast into her mouth.  
  
"Enough bickering kids." Molly demanded, bustling into the kitchen.  
  
"Mum, we weren't -" Ron started.  
  
"We have to get going before all the second hand books are snatched up." Molly said grabbing the floo powder and passing it around.  
  
Within seconds, everyone had their floo powder, which they threw in to the fireplace one by one (Ginny with Sophie on her hip).  
  
They ended up in a small shop in Diagon Alley. When they stepped out into the warm, welcoming streets they saw that it hadn't changed a bit. Molly headed off to Flourish and Blotts with Arthur, while Ron and Harry went to meet up with Hermione at Gringotts.  
  
"Ginny!" an excited voice called out from behind her.  
  
"Chloe," The redhead exclaimed as Chloe jogged towards her. "Long time no see!"  
  
"No kidding! Last time I saw you was the day you went to the Malfoy manor." Chloe recollected.  
  
"Gee, maybe that's because SOMEONE was vacationing in France." Ginny said sarcastically. "And that someone wasn't me."  
  
"Sorry! Sorry! But I did get a great tan and you know it!" Chloe gloated.  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
"Anyway, hello Sophie!" Chloe exclaimed in sudden realization.  
  
"Hi Ko-ee." Sophie giggled.  
  
"So where do we go first?" Chloe asked.  
  
"We could go and check out the Quidditch supply store first and see if they're got any nice brooms now." Ginny suggested.  
  
"Yeah, or any posters of fine guys riding on nice brooms." Chloe said winking.  
  
"Or just any fine guys." Ginny added. "We also need to go to the Apothecary and probably Madame Malkins' but that can wait until later."  
  
"Inny, can Ko-ee hold me now?" Sophie asked in a whiny voice.  
  
"Sure!" Ginny said, happy to have passed her off as Sophie had definitely gotten bigger since the last time she had seen her.  
  
The three girls walked down the familiar street and into a store that was full of nice looking guys. Chloe of course began experiencing euphoria as soon as they walked in the store.  
  
"Wow, Gin! Look at them all! It's my lucky day!" Chloe exclaimed seeing about fifteen guys standing around, looking at magazines or brooms.  
  
Ginny was just about ready to reply when she felt a large but warm hand firmly grasping her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Gin."  
  
"Draco!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck in excitement.  
  
"Glad to see that you've properly missed me then." he drawled hugging her back.  
  
"Of course I missed you! It's been ages since we've seen each other." Ginny smiled, pulling back and grabbing his hand.  
  
"Well, trust me; I've missed you, too." Draco assured her before his face got more serious. "But before we go gallivanting off to who knows where, I have someone I'd like you to meet." Draco said stepping aside.  
  
Ginny gasped at what she saw. The man standing before her was an exact replica of Draco. She turned to Draco, open-mouthed, for an explanation.  
  
"What did you do? Is this some kind of a joke? You didn't clone yourself did you?" she asked, stringing the questions together.  
  
"Calm down, Ginny. No I didn't clone myself and this isn't a joke - well he sort of is - this is my cousin Byron." Draco explained rationally. "He'll be joining us at Hogwarts this year as a seventh year, just like I told you in my letter."  
  
"Well, that explains it then. Why couldn't you just tell me that in the first place?" Ginny scolded.  
  
"I would have if you hadn't jumped to conclusions." Draco reminded her.  
  
"Whatever. Well, hello Byron. I'm Ginny and this is Chloe." the redhead said, gesturing to her drooling friend.  
  
"It's very nice to meet you Ginny; I hope Draco's been treating you well." Byron said stepping forward to greet her. "My, my, it's very nice to meet YOU Chloe." Byron said, obviously trying to charm the blonde. "Is this YOUR child?"  
  
Chloe look almost mortified at the thought of being a mother, though Sophie could be her child if looks could count.  
  
"No, no!" She's Ginny's!" Chloe said, giving Sophie to Ginny.  
  
"What?" Draco cried out. He looked extremely baffled and angry.  
  
"Draco! Cool it! She's my niece" Ginny exclaimed, laughing.  
  
"Well, why didn't you just say so?" Draco asked, his features softening.  
  
"I would have if you hadn't jumped to conclusions." Ginny winked, imitating Draco's aforementioned comeback. "Anyway, this is Sophie. She's Bill's daughter. Could you hold her for a moment while I retie my shoe?" She asked, handing her niece to Draco.  
  
Draco took Sophie into his arms slightly awkwardly.  
  
"Inny! I'm not an awful!" the small child shouted indignantly.  
  
"You mean Quaffle." Draco corrected.  
  
"I don't know what that is, but I'm not that either." Sophie said, matter- of-factly as she turned to look at Draco with her brown-eyes wide and arms crossed. "Who're you?" she demanded.  
  
"Draco Malfoy. I'm Ginny's boyfriend." He told her.  
  
"Oh! Inny's boyfriend!" she repeated, realization dawning on her face. "She talks about you A LOT!"  
  
Ginny, who was now done with her shoe, began to flush a furiously shade of red.  
  
"Oh does she?" Draco asked, looking amused.  
  
"Yeah, but I get bored all the time so I stop listening."  
  
Ginny noticed that Byron and Chloe were still chattering just as the Draco duplicate decided to say something to the whole group.  
  
"Hey, Drake, Ginny, we're going to get an ice cream cone!" he said.  
  
Ginny shot Chloe a confused look. Chloe did sort of have a boyfriend and Ginny wasn't too sure that Andrew would appreciate this much.  
  
Chloe grinned back mischievously. It was her little way of letting Ginny know that she was only going for the ice cream. Chloe absolutely adores ice cream.  
  
"Hey, before you go, can I have a word with Chloe?" Draco asked, gently placing Sophie with Ginny.  
  
Once again the redhead was bewildered but held her tongue patiently until Draco had had his word with Chloe and she and Byron were out of sight.  
  
"What was that all about?" Ginny asked in what she hoped was a calm voice.  
  
"I needed to warn her just as I will warn you and have already warned Blaise that Byron is dangerous. You need to keep away from him at all costs. Chloe assured me she just wanted some ice cream so I figured that was harmless enough and she didn't need us cowering over her during her favorite dessert, but at least I warned her. I had no say in whether or not he came to Hogwarts - if I would have, he would not be here." Draco told her sternly.  
  
"But Draco, why?" Ginny asked appalled by his seriousness.  
  
Up ahead they spotted the rest of the Weasleys at Gringotts (save Ron and his friends). Sophie gave a sudden squeal at seeing her family.  
  
"Inny, can I go? You're boring!" she whined.  
  
"Sure, tell Mum and Dad I'm with Draco, will you?" she asked, kissing her niece on the forehead before watching her scurry away.  
  
"Bye, bye, Drago!" the girl shrieked, giggling madly.  
  
"Bye Sophie." Draco called, chuckling slightly at his new nickname. "She reminds me of Bailey."  
  
"Yeah, she is a little like her." Ginny agreed, seeing the resemblance. "So what's the deal with Byron?"  
  
Draco's eyes grew dark and his mood seemed to change instantly at the mention of his mirror image cousin.  
  
"He's just callous when it comes to women. He reminds me a lot of my father. All Byron wants from a woman is one thing and when he gets it from her, she's history. The odd thing about Byron is that he doesn't always want the same thing from women," Draco said, leaving Ginny a little confused by his meaning. "Sometimes he'll surprise you with his intentions, and we're not talking sending you flowers 'just because'. At his old school, his supply of willing females was running a little low. He'd used just about every girl there in one way or another and they were beginning to catch on. Those girls were stupid and blind; they kept going back to him, time after time - giving him exactly what he wanted. Now he's here at Hogwarts and he's got a whole new population of ladies who have no idea what's coming.  
  
And don't think that just because you're 'taken' doesn't mean that he won't try to come after you and try to persuade you to do things with him or for him. Even though I'm his cousin, he'd take any girl of mine and do horrible things. In this case, blood is definitely not thicker than water. Stay away from him, Gin - I couldn't stand to see you fall into his grasp just like all the other girls do." Draco told her, looking into her eyes intensely, signaling that he was done talking about it.  
  
"Oh." was all Ginny could say. She never would have guessed by looking at Byron or talking to him that he would be malicious like that to anyone. He almost seemed more gentlemanly and old-fashioned. Ginny decided that she would have to find out what kind of a person he was for herself.  
  
The pair traveled to different stores around Diagon Alley, purchasing what was needed before heading off to Florean Fortescues Ice Cream Parlor, where they saw Chloe and Byron.  
  
Byron looked slightly bored with the blonde that was sitting across from him.  
  
Meanwhile, Chloe was shoveling as much ice cream as she could into her mouth while gabbing on about fashion. It wasn't really a pretty picture, especially not when you're talking with a guy.  
  
"Byron looks thrilled." Ginny noted out loud.  
  
Draco appeared to have noticed as well when he chuckled.  
  
"Oh yes, ticked. Let's not let them see us, we need a little while alone." Draco said grinning wickedly. He pulled her to the farthest table away from the unsightly couple and ordered Ginny a bowl of chocolate ice cream and he got a bowl of peanut butter ice cream.  
  
"What do we need to talk about?" Ginny asked, as she spooned her chocolate ice cream into her mouth.  
  
"Well, I'd rather not TALK, if you know what I mean." Draco told her as he pushed their ice cream dishes aside and leaned across the table. Ginny had caught on and met him in the middle, their lips colliding gently.  
  
Draco's hand fluttered to her rosy cheek as hers flew to his soft hair. His lips were cool against her hot ones, making the kiss exciting and different. The icy temperature penetrated Ginny entirely as she kissed him with a searing passion. Her fiery lips melted his and he felt as though he was completely on fire. For both of them, it was like falling in love all over again.  
  
Draco reluctantly pulled away from Ginny. He was not able to tear his eyes from hers though, so he just gazed into the pools of chocolate.  
  
"I really did miss you." Draco said, thinking that maybe his previous statement had not been sincere enough.  
  
"I know, Draco." Ginny smiled, making his heart twinge. "Uh-oh looks like we've got company."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Ron. And Bailey." Ginny said, putting a surprised emphasis on the last word.  
  
"What? Why has he got my little sister?" Draco asked with a look of sheer surprise.  
  
But sure enough, as they stood a craned their necks over the crowd of people, there was a confused redheaded boy holding hands with a small but gleeful gray-eyed girl. As they neared, Bailey's face lit up.  
  
"Ronnie! It's Ginny and Drakie!" she squealed with delight. Ron continued walking, blushing furiously until he got to their table.  
  
"Ronnie?" Draco sneered, picking up his little sister.  
  
"Drakie?" Ron taunted smugly.  
  
"Listen, Weasley, why'd you have Bailey?" Draco asked simply.  
  
"So THAT'S her name!" Ron said with awe and understanding.  
  
"Of course, Ron, didn't she tell you?" Ginny asked.  
  
"No. I found her wondering around calling for 'Drakie'. I asked if she was lost and she said she was; so I told her I was Ron and I'd help her find you. She's nothing like you, Malfoy, really or I wouldn't have helped her. Anyway, then I asked her name and she told me she wasn't allowed to talk to strangers and then proceeded to babble on about YOU." Ron explained exasperatedly.  
  
"He looks like Ginny." Bailey declared.  
  
"We know." Draco told her.  
  
"Can I keep him?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"No, I don't think so." Draco told her in what he hoped was a gentle voice.  
  
"Why not?" the small child demanded.  
  
"I don't want him."  
  
That comment earned him a light slap on the arm from Ginny.  
  
"I do." Bailey said pouting.  
  
"Well it's not up to you, now is it?" Draco asked. Ron looked impatient, as though he were waiting to be dismissed formally or something and Ginny was fighting the urge to laugh at him and Draco at the same time.  
  
"Meanie." Bailey said.  
  
"I know it." Draco smiled, "Weasley, did you happen to see my mother around?"  
  
"Wasn't exactly on my to-do list." Ron grumbled tired of waiting around, he stalked way, ears blushing as Bailey called out to him.  
  
"Bye Ronnie!"  
  
"Mum's probably worried sick," Draco told his sister, turning to his head to face hers. As if on cue, Mrs. Malfoy appeared.  
  
"There you are Bailey! I have been looking all over the place for you! Draco, Ginny, where did you finally find her?" Narcissa questioned.  
  
"My mother found her." Ginny explained.  
  
"Your family is here?" the older blonde woman asked in delight.  
  
"Erm - yes."  
  
"Oh, Ginny! I would just love to meet them." Narcissa said excitedly.  
  
Just a year ago this statement would have been one Ginny never though she'd hear from a Malfoy, but now (though she did still find it a bit odd that Narcissa was so giddy), it just made her more nervous than anything.  
  
"Well, I guess you could if you wanted to - " Ginny started.  
  
"Terrific!" Narcissa exclaimed, "Where shall we find them, then?"  
  
"Flourish and Blotts, I suppose." Ginny answered automatically.  
  
Draco hadn't been able to get a word in edge wise and was now baffled by this fast moving conversation. The blonde boy was opening and closing his mouth, but was emitting no sound.  
  
"Great! I'll have to ask your Mum to come with me to a lovely little place called Madame Pudifoot's for tea." Narcissa planned aloud.  
  
"Big mouth." Draco teased Ginny sourly, finally able to say something.  
  
"Oh shut up Ferret boy." Ginny snapped playfully.  
  
"She calls you Ferret boy?" Bailey giggled, obviously mentally adding this to her list of nicknames for him.  
  
Narcissa led them through the large crowd of people flooding the street. She led them into a dark store they both immediately recognized as Flourish and Blotts.  
  
The Weasleys were still looking at the second-hand books. Ron was engrossed in a tattered copy of something that looked like a book of curses.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley!" Narcissa cried out, walking gracefully towards the short, plump, redheaded woman.  
  
"Mrs. Malfoy! How lovely to finally meet you!" Molly gushed. Ginny was aware of the fact that her mother did not think it was THAT lovely to meet Narcissa but she was a good actress.  
  
"I was just telling Ginny when she came to the manor that I would love to meet her family. When she mentioned you were here I knew there really wasn't anytime like the present. I was wondering if you would like to join me for some tea or coffee at Madame Pudifoot's?" the aristocratic-looking woman asked warmly.  
  
"Well, I suppose that would work. Arthur I'll be back soon." Molly replied before calling to her husband who was talking animatedly to the Grangers.  
  
"By the way, I insist on you calling me Narcissa." the blonde said.  
  
"Okay, I'm Molly." Mrs. Weasley said uncertainly.  
  
"Lovely!" Narcissa said brightly, grasping Molly's arm and pulling her out the door with Bailey tagging along behind them.  
  
Ginny and Draco found themselves deserted in the middle of the bookstore. It seemed that Arthur had left to talk to Dean Thomas's parents and Ron was trying desperately to ignore them.  
  
"Well, that was pointless." Draco said finally.  
  
"Just a little." Ginny acknowledged.  
  
"Hey guys!" a familiar voice called.  
  
"Blaise! How are you?" Ginny asked, rushing to her raven-haired friend and hugging her.  
  
"I'm doing okay. Dean's taking me out to dinner tonight." she said excitedly.  
  
"Where at?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Oh, probably at the Leaky Cauldron, but there is better than nothing, right?"  
  
"Definitely! Unfortunately, Draco doesn't take me on dates." Ginny grumbled.  
  
"Draco Malfoy!" Blaise scolded.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why don't you take your girlfriend on any dates?" she demanded.  
  
"Who's to say I won't? In case you didn't notice, we kept our relationship a secret for most of last year and we've been apart all summer! I'm getting to it!" the blonde boy said defensively.  
  
"Good." both girls said with satisfaction.  
  
"Have either of you heard much on the war?" Blaise asked.  
  
"Not really. It just sounds like a huge mess if you ask me." Ginny said.  
  
"I've heard a lot, but nothing of importance." Draco put in.  
  
"Me neither." Blaise sighed.  
  
"Drake!" a booming voice yelled.  
  
"Draco, it's your twin!" the redhead teased.  
  
"Hey Byron." Draco greeted his cousin with out enthusiasm.  
  
"You done here? I'm bored." Byron drawled.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"Well, then I suggest." Byron began. He was cut of by the sudden recognition of Blaise. "I suggest that you introduce me to this gorgeous vixen."  
  
"This is Blaise Zambini." Draco said curtly.  
  
"It's great to meet you." Byron said seductively.  
  
"What year are you?"  
  
"I'll be a seventh year." Blaise said, looking a little bored.  
  
"Me, too!" Byron announced looking delighted. "I'm Byron Malfoy."  
  
Blaise and Byron chatted for a short time before Byron decided to leave. Blaise turned to Draco.  
  
"He didn't seem half as evil as you made him out to be."  
  
"It's always the nice guy." Ginny said giggling.  
  
"Exactly." Draco nodded.  
  
"Listen, I'm not saying he seems the type to save orphans from a fire he just seems fairly nice, alright?" Blaise justified.  
  
"Whatever. Well, I better go; I guess I'll see you both on the train tomorrow." Draco said, remembering that he had let Byron go on his own.  
  
"See ya, Draco." Blaise said, still in a bit of a huff.  
  
"Bye Draco." Ginny said giving him a quick kiss.  
  
"Bye, Gin. Bye, Blaise." he said disappearing into the crowd.  
  
"Byron's pretty cute, don't you think?" Blaise asked Ginny after Draco was out of sight. She had seen the twinkle in Ginny's eyes when Byron had come around.  
  
"He's all right." Ginny said nonchalantly, speaking more to her shoes than to her friend.  
  
"I can tell you think he's more than 'all right'." Blaise teased lightly.  
  
"Fine," Ginny conceded, "He's cute."  
  
"Cuter than Draco?" Blaise pushed, taunting her redheaded friend.  
  
"No."  
  
"Gin, don't lie."  
  
"I'm not! They look exactly alike!" she said defensively.  
  
"Are too."  
  
"Okay, maybe he's a teensy bit cuter than Draco, but I don't know why! They really do look exactly the same!" Ginny admitted, a little frustrated with herself for thinking such thoughts.  
  
"It's just something about him." Blaise said in concurrence.  
  
"His eyes." Ginny said.  
  
"Gin, they're the same shade as Draco's!" the black-haired girl cried.  
  
"It may look that way, but they have a different edge to them all at the same time."  
  
"Whatever!" Blaise laughed loudly at the ridiculous thought.  
  
"Well, I better get going! I've got to find my mum. I'll see you tomorrow!" Ginny said, hugging her friend once more and hurrying out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny walked into Madame Pudifoot's and nearly gagged at the sight of all the flowers and frills. It wasn't that Ginny didn't like flowers; she just didn't like the gaudy frilly ones that lined the hideously painted walls.  
  
The redhead spotted her mother and Narcissa with their backs towards her, looking out the window at the passersby. As she moved closer, she could just make out what they were chattering about. She was ready to open her mouth and announce her presence when she heard Narcissa say something that sparked her interest. So Ginny froze in place and remained quiet to listen.  
  
"Molly, do you think Draco and Ginny know?"  
  
"How could they if WE haven't told them?" Molly reasoned.  
  
"And surely Dumbledore wouldn't have." Narcissa began.  
  
"He's got no reason to. It's got to be natural!" Molly said, taking a sip of her tea.  
  
"We're not even sure she was talking about them." Narcissa went on.  
  
"But the whole thing fits."  
  
"I know, at least they seem to be in love. But if they are - then why hasn't he gone yet?" the blonde woman asked, clearly discombobulated.  
  
"Maybe it's not real love yet. I'm sure they'll have to be put through many more tests."  
  
"I'm glad Dumbledore contacted us last night with the news. I wonder why we never knew."  
  
"Probably for the best until Ginny and Draco had gotten together on their own.." Molly replied thoughtfully.  
  
"That's true. I'm so relieved it's Ginny." Narcissa smiled.  
  
Ginny decided to interrupt now, her mind racing with confusion.  
  
What fits? What about her and Draco? What did Dumbledore have to do with anything; and most importantly WHO was supposed to be gone? Ginny thought it best to disrupt their lovely conversation before she was left with anymore unanswered questions.  
  
"Afternoon Mum, Narcissa."  
  
The two ladies stopped talking immediately and turned to her, obviously fairly confident she hadn't overheard them.  
  
"Hello dear." Molly smiled.  
  
"Good afternoon, Ginny." Narcissa greeted cheerfully. "Where's Draco?"  
  
"He went home. Byron left a little while ago and Draco left shortly afterwards." Ginny explained.  
  
"Ah, so you've met Byron. Quite the ladies man, is he not? But be careful about what you say around that one, not real fond of happiness." Narcissa warned standing up.  
  
"So, what brings you here?' Molly asked her daughter, following suit.  
  
"I was wondering if you've gotten my books, because if not, I could go get them."  
  
"No, no! I've already gotten them. You have Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 and Defending Yourself Against the Dark Arts - The Advanced Volume. Oh yes, and I picked up Practical Magic, a book for your Health class." Molly said.  
  
"Great, then I'll just be going -" Ginny said, turning to leave.  
  
"No! I'll need to be leaving and getting Byron ready for school tomorrow! I'll be seeing you!" Narcissa said, kissing both of their cheeks.  
  
"Nice lady." Molly said to her daughter as they left.  
  
"Yeah," Ginny agreed, still baffled. "She's great."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okay, so now we've had our corny chapters and things so this began a little bit of the plot! Isn't it great to know this story will actually begin going somewhere?! I'm excited! I'm hoping you're excited too! I'm really sorry about the lack of updating! I seriously will try to get them out a little faster. I've been sick with some stress related things and school and debate have bogged me down but I promise I am working on it!  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!! Tell me what you think is going on and your opinion of Byron so far!!  
  
Thanks!  
  
~*REVIEW! REVIEW! IT'S WHAT WE LIKE TO DO!~*REMEMBER: THE MORE REVIEWS, THE FASTER THE UPDATE!~* 


	5. The Real Draco Malfoy

For The Sake Of The Baby  
  
By: DC  
  
Chapter 5  
  
The Real Draco Malfoy  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm glad that you all liked the last chapter that was put up! As you could maybe tell, the plot line will be starting soon, a little less fluff and things like that. For everyone who loves fluff then don't worry there will still be some because what's a good romance without fluff? So there was a comment that maybe the plot line would be fairly generic with a prophecy and everything. I must warn you that this story will include a prophecy as you may have guessed but it won't be the typical plot that you're used to seeing. I haven't read any stories like the one I've got planned for you all so hopefully it will be exciting for you all.  
  
With all that said, here's the fifth chapter in the sequel to The Girl All The Bad Guys Want. In this chapter you will find that there have been a few new characters added! I love new characters! They are mine. All mine. You will see a reappearance of Rachel, Andrew, Chris and Sophie; but then there will be a new character named Danica. Also, you'll see a moody Draco and some spoilers for OotP in terms of characters.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize as being J.K.'s. I do have a few of my own though, to include the expanded Weasley clan, Byron, Chloe, Payton, Andrew, Bella, Bailey, Mara and Elisabeth. I also own the plot and that means no stealing!  
  
All right, now that my speech is over, read it and then leave me a review! It doesn't necessarily have to be a long review - just tell me if you like it and who your favorite characters are! Enjoy!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 5  
  
The Real Draco Malfoy  
  
Last time: Ginny walks in on her mum and Narcissa Malfoy talking about something secret. Suspicions arise and Ginny wonders what could possible be so important yet so secret about her and Draco.  
  
By dinner time that evening after the shopping trip to Diagon Alley, Ginny had almost succeeded in forgetting the conversation she had overheard earlier. Unfortunately, Molly decided to refresh Ginny's memory.  
  
"I had tea with Narcissa today," she proclaimed, looking around the dinner table at her many children.  
  
"Malfoy?" Charlie asked incredulously.  
  
"Who else?"  
  
"Yeah, how many Narcissas do YOU know?" Fred asked eyebrows arched.  
  
"Good point."  
  
"ANYWAY," Molly interrupted and turned to Ginny as she went on, "We talked about Ginny and Draco's relationship while we were there."  
  
Hermione smiled and looked at Harry. Lavender grinned and grabbed hold of the back of Ron' t-shirt as discreetly as possible. Ginny had a sneaking feeling that Ron knew more than he was letting on. He probably only held back and played dumb because there wasn't much he could do about it, with the whole family already knowing.  
  
"Okay." Bill pursued.  
  
"Narcissa and I support the whole situation," the redheaded woman beamed.  
  
"Why wouldn't you? I mean, they're only friends!" Ron asked exasperated.  
  
"Mum, I thought you already did support us!" Ginny said in a slightly indignant tone.  
  
"Oh Ginny! I just wanted you to be happy, and you are! But that didn't mean that Draco Malfoy was someone I wanted to see you be happy with. I thought 'why can't she go and find herself a "nice" boy?' But after talking to Narcissa, I totally support you and Draco. The way you two glow when you're together is positively amazing," Molly explained.  
  
"Mum - you saw us for like four seconds.how could you possibly -," Ginny began, confused.  
  
"It was just so obvious!" Molly chirped. "So, how are the potatoes?"  
  
A change of subject always meant that there was something going on at the Weasley house. Ginny knew as soon as Molly had cut her off with her overly chipper statement that she wasn't getting the whole truth and that really irritated her.  
  
The redheaded girl didn't have much time to ponder this any further because Angelina let out a shrill cry.  
  
Fred noticed it first.  
  
"Ang - I think you've sprung a leak!" He cried, baffled by the situation before him.  
  
"Fred, my water just broke! The baby's coming! We need to get to St. Mungo's immediately!" Angelina cried and jumped to her feet.  
  
"Oh how marvelous! Accio bag!" Molly squealed, summoning the bag she had kept packed with clothes and things that Angelina would need when the baby came. "Let's go everyone, we really must hurry!"  
  
Suddenly, the Burrow turned into complete and utter pandemonium. Fred was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off; George and Katie Bell along with Percy and Penelope got into the fireplace so they could floo to St. Mungo's and warn them so that everything was set up for Angelina when she arrived, while Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Rachel all Apparated there, to ensure a speedy arrival.  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender rounded up the little kids to get them ready, insisting they would be there later. Arthur and Fred Apparated next. They were closely followed by the huffing and puffing Molly and Angelina, who had spent a considerable amount of time wondering which way they should go to ensure the safety of the baby. If Angelina Apparated, there was a good chance of getting splinched, but, if she flooed there, she may fall and cause trauma. They eventually decided to floo because there would be plenty of people on the other side of the fireplace to catch her.  
  
Ginny, took her turn next as she threw her handful of floo powder into the fire yelling,  
  
"St. Mungo's Maternity Ward!"  
  
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a very white waiting room with everyone who had previously gone except Fred and Angelina.  
  
"Oh dear! I do hope it's going well!" Molly said, pacing around the room anxiously. "I mean, when Rachel had Andrew and Chris it was a quick and easy birth. But when Fleur gave birth to Sophie, it lasted for ages! She was in labor for nearly 36 hours and then they had complications because Sophie was tangled up in her umbilical cord. I just don't think I can handle that kind of stress again!"  
  
"Mum, calm down! I'm sure Fred will keep you posted," Penelope said, reassuringly.  
  
"Yes, you're right of course, dear."  
  
And she was. Fred would rush in and update them about once every ten minutes for an hour and a half. Who know Fred would be so excited about taking on responsibility?  
  
Finally, the long awaited news arrived that Angelina had given birth to a beautiful baby girl.  
  
"Oh wonderful!" Molly exclaimed, tearing up over her fourth grandchild. She ran straight to the nursery window before Fred had time to tell them what her name was.  
  
Everyone got to the window just in time to see a small bundle of pink brought in. The nurse brought her to the window to show the excited Weasley family.  
  
"She's so beautiful." Ginny cooed at her new niece.  
  
"Danica Alexis." Fred said proudly from the back of the group as he pushed his way up toward the window and watched with satisfaction as the lady behind the glass laid his new daughter down in her own cradle.  
  
After visiting Angelina, everyone, but Fred, decided to call it a night.  
  
"Let's make like a baby and head out!" George cracked, grabbing Katie Bell's hand.  
  
Everyone rolled their eyes and those that could Apparate did so and those that couldn't, used the floo network.  
  
When Ginny finally curled up in her bed, it was nearing midnight. She had just finished packing for Hogwarts and she was now officially exhausted. It had definitely been a long night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Mr. Draco, sir." Bella whispered into her sleeping master's ear. She received no response.  
  
"Young master Malfoy," she persisted, a bit more loudly.  
  
"Hmm?" the blonde boy mumbled.  
  
"Mr. Draco is needing to getup and go to school, sir."  
  
"Just Draco," he reminded his childhood friend.  
  
"You see, Mr. Draco. Bella thought that over and she is deciding that addressing Mr. Draco without a title is absurd, sir. It is disrespectful. So, Bella is calling you MR. Draco," the old house elf explained logically.  
  
"You're nutters, Bella," Draco noted. He was just pulling himself up when he was knocked back against the pillows by a mass of blonde hair.  
  
"Drakie, are you leaving today?" Bailey asked solemnly.  
  
"Looks that way," Draco told her, pointing to the large trunk.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I have to go to school."  
  
"But what will I do without you?" the young girl questioned, her eyes wide.  
  
"You'll be going to school as well!" Draco assured her, picking her up and placing her on the ground as he walked to the bathroom, dismissing Bella, to brush his teeth.  
  
"With you?" Bailey asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Overseas?" the fragile girl questioned, dread obvious in her voice.  
  
"Didn't Mum tell you? You'll be home schooled," Draco explained, spitting out his toothpaste.  
  
"Mommy's going to teach me?" Bailey asked gleefully.  
  
Draco smirked; obviously Bailey still had a lot of learning to do about Narcissa.  
  
"Of course not, the day Mum teaches something besides etiquette is the day I change my name to Harry Potter," Draco replied, "Bella will be teaching you; nothing too hard, just basic knowledge for your age. You'll need spelling, math, science, reading and writing; she might even teach you some small magic things," Draco told her, winking, "Then Mum will teach you proper etiquette."  
  
Bailey squealed with delight.  
  
"Goody! I have to go, Drakie! I can't be late for my first day!" she said, rushing out the door before Draco had a chance to tell her that being late would be near impossibly seeing as Bella would probably teach Bailey arithmetic in bed, if that's what Bailey wanted.  
  
Draco sighed as he thought about how much he would miss his little sister over the school term. Things just wouldn't be the same without seeing her smiling face two inches away from his every morning when he woke up. At least there would be holidays though.  
  
At Hogwarts, things would be different. Normal - well, as normal as things ever got at Hogwarts. There would be tons of homework, Quidditch games and Ginny. Momentarily, Draco wondered where he would be without her. Probably amongst Death Eaters right now in the war (on the wrong side, of course), he knew. He'd still be heartless.  
  
That day on the train when he'd seen her being attacked by Creevy, he saw his mother. He saw a fragile girl in pain. It was at that moment he realized how beautiful she was and he was not about to let something so beautiful get mutilated. He didn't know what had happened exactly but it felt almost like something in his heart clicked into place and began working properly. Whatever it was, he was eternally grateful.  
  
"Draco! Hurry up or you'll miss the train! Byron's waiting for you!" Narcissa called.  
  
Byron could now Apparate and he was going to Apparate to a safe spot behind King's Cross while Draco would use a Port Key to get to the same place.  
  
Draco lugged his trunk and owl down the steps and into the entrance hall.  
  
"Bout time slow poke," Byron sneered.  
  
"Shove it Byron - it's too early for that crap. We're going to miss the train if we don't hurry," Draco snarled. Byron went outside first.  
  
"Bye Drakie!" Bailey said jumping into his arms. It appeared as though she had gotten into her Mum's makeup in order to get ready for her first day.  
  
"Bye Bailey," Draco said chuckling and kissing her head.  
  
"Bye Draco, behave yourself this year! And look after Ginny!" Narcissa said, kissing him on the cheek and taking Bailey from him.  
  
"I will Mum! Bye!" Draco called as he touched the lunchbox that was actually the port key. He felt a tug behind his navel. Soon the chaos, of his last year at Hogwarts, would begin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny woke up incredibly early the morning of the first. She was prepared to look her best for the first day of school. She was absolutely ecstatic to be going back to school again. She would be able to see Draco everyday of the week! It would definitely be better than sitting at home, wondering what her mother and Narcissa were up to.  
  
Ginny walked across her floor and sat down at her large vanity to begin getting ready.  
  
After using a de-frizzing charm on her hair and applying her makeup as flawlessly as she knew how, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and finished off with a pair of old tennis shoes and headed downstairs. Her eyelids were still heavy from fatigue, but they lifted for the last home-cooked breakfast she'd have in a while. Ginny was greeted by the amazing smell of pancakes.  
  
"That smells amazing, Mum!" Ginny praised, taking her seat next to the only person that would be up that early. "Morning, Ron!"  
  
"Mornin' Gin," he greeted between bites, "You don't look well."  
  
"Shut up, Ron." she snapped. Ginny was not really a morning person. Okay, she's not a morning person at all. Basically, she'd say good morning to everyone awake, tell her Mum the food was good and then she ate. No comments were accepted until after breakfast or before nine o'clock, whichever came first. Unfortunately for Ron, she hadn't eaten yet and it was seven o'clock.  
  
"Don't be a grouch, Gin," Ron said matter-of-factly. "It's not my fault someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!"  
  
"Ron, if you know what's best for you, you'll stop talking until I'm finished eating." Ginny said sharply, shoving a forkful of syrup-drenched pancakes into her mouth hastily.  
  
"What is it with Weasley's and their food?" Harry asked, yawning as he sauntered into the kitchen and sat down in front of a plate across from Ginny.  
  
"Morning, Harry," Ron said cheerily. HE was happiest WHILE he was eating.  
  
"Good morning, Ron," Harry greeted as he spread butter on his pancakes.  
  
It didn't take long before the two boys had launched into an extremely spirited discussion about who was going to make it to the Quidditch Cup Playoffs this year - Ron still insisted it would be the Wasps and the Cannons but Harry believed Bulgaria and France would be going at it in the end. It was Harry who noticed Ginny's odd position first.  
  
"Hey Ron, check out Ginny," he said laughing.  
  
Ron glanced at his sister briefly before doing a double take. Ginny's arm was underneath her head, which was resting on the table. Her plateful of pancakes had been pushed towards the middle of the table - though she was still holding her fork with her right hand.  
  
Ron, too, erupted in laughter. "I knew she was tired," he exclaimed. He couldn't read emotions or moods of women well- but 'tired' he knew. 'Hungry' was fairly easy as well.  
  
"What's so funny?" Bill asked upon entering to the kitchen.  
  
"Our sister. Ron laughed - pointing at the sleeping girl.  
  
"Guess SOMEONE was a little tired," Bill commented.  
  
"Boys, be nice to Ginny. She's had a trying year and a fairly stressful summer and I think it's just now catching up to her," Molly said.  
  
Two and a half hours later, the whole family had gathered in the kitchen carrying on discussions while Ginny slept the morning away.  
  
Finally, it was Charlie who decided Ginny should be woken up. If they waited until it was time to leave, Ginny would have their heads.  
  
"Gin! Rise and shine!" he half-whispered into her ear.  
  
"What?" Ginny asked sitting up with a puzzled expression written on her face.  
  
"Have a good nap?" Harry grinned.  
  
"Nap?" Ginny asked, obviously still puzzled. Realization dawned on her suddenly. "How long was I asleep?" she asked, horrified.  
  
"Only about two and a half hours," Ron said reassuringly.  
  
"Only?" Ginny screeched, "I have to go and pack!" She ran up the stair hastily tripping over the sixth step.  
  
"And you wanted to wait until you left," Charlie laughed from the kitchen.  
  
The redhead burst into her room and began literally shoving things into her large trunk. Her books were already there but she had clothes to pack and more school supplies that she'd recently bought.  
  
She came to an obstacle about two-thirds of the way through when suddenly there was no more room.  
  
"Just lovely, now what do I do?" she grumbled. She flopped onto her bed, exhausted, thinking about how she would solve this problem. Eventually it came to her that she could just call Bill in to use a shrinking charm on her trunk.  
  
Finally, once Ginny was done packing, she, Ron and Harry were taken to King's Cross Station. Being the Dream Team's last year, they were all highly emotional once at Platform Nine and Three-quarters.  
  
Hermione and Lavender were crying, while Ron and Harry were doing their best not to show their true feelings.  
  
Ginny wasn't too happy either. The sadness, that seemed to emanate from the seventh years, was getting to her as well. It reminded her that Draco had only one year left with her.  
  
"Lav, can you believe it? Only one more year to go, what will we do without Hogwarts? It's been our second home for the last six years," Hermione said tear-eyed. Of course everyone knew that she would most probably become an Auror for the Ministry or teach at Hogwarts.  
  
"I know; and to think - no more Trewlany. I'll have to go on without her wise words," Lavender said dramatically.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatization over a supposed crackpot.  
  
"I think you'll get over that, Lav. I really do."  
  
"Yeah, probably so, I mean we'll probably never see some of our classmates again. How sad," Lavender said, seriously.  
  
The two seventh year girls chatted on until the teens got to the station. They had come to the conclusion that they must say individual goodbyes to all of their classmates at the end of the year.  
  
Ginny gazed around the Platform looking for the blonde hair that she knew so well. Just as she was about ready to give up and begin looking on the train, a familiar voice greeted her cheerfully.  
  
"Hey, Gin, what's up?" Blaise asked, appearing in front of her from out of the crowd.  
  
"Not a whole lot since yesterday actually. How about you?" Ginny asked.  
  
"The same. Chloe met some new girls that she said you would probably be rooming with. They seem nice. Well, all but one."  
  
"What do you mean all but one?" Ginny questioned, curious about her new roommates.  
  
"She's very snobby, this one is. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if she were put into Slytherin though, I hope not. The others are obviously Gryffindors - or Hufflepuffs," Blaise said, the last part maliciously, "Draco's already claimed a compartment towards the back of the train. Not sure if Byron's there or not, but you could always check," the raven-haired girl winked.  
  
"Oh come on! It's not like he's ten times sexier than Draco or anything. There's just something about him that puts him a millimeter ahead. I won't be going for him though, not to worry," Ginny assured her friend.  
  
"I think it's because Byron's new and dangerous," Blaise said matter-of- factly.  
  
"Oh, and Draco's not dangerous?" Ginny reminded her.  
  
"Well, not really. You do have to admit that Draco's loosing his edge. He's definitely softened up a bit since you two started dating. Plus, it's not even a secret anymore - I mean, who really cares if you two get caught?" Blaise said.  
  
"I suppose you're right but that's not ALL bad." Ginny defended looking at the ground.  
  
Blaise knew that all the talk of how Draco had lost his edge was upsetting Ginny slightly. Part of the attraction to him was the bad-boy image he carried with him but now it was wearing off. The Slytherin girl loved seeing Draco and Ginny happy together so she decided to drop the subject.  
  
"Well listen, Gin, I gotta go and find Dean. I'll meet up with you later, all right?"  
  
"All right." Ginny answered dully, traipsing towards the Hogwarts Express. She shoved all her stuff into storage and wandered around in search of Chloe or Draco.  
  
Eventually she ran into Draco in the corridor, Byron in tow. As soon as she saw Byron, she noticed that familiar Malfoy sparkle of mischief in his eye.  
  
"Hey boys!" Ginny greeted them, putting all her thoughts aside for now.  
  
"Hey Gin," they chorused at the sound of her voice.  
  
"Have you two kept out of trouble, so far?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Since yesterday?" Draco asked.  
  
"I try not to, but Draco ruins all my fun," Byron teased.  
  
"For some reason, that's incredibly hard to imagine!" the redhead giggled, glancing at Draco.  
  
"There really isn't any point to any of those pranks you suggested. Especially the whole 'let's set the trolley cart on fire and bewitch it to roll into a first year's compartment' idea," Draco shot back grumpily.  
  
"Lighten up, Drake," Byron told his near identical cousin.  
  
On the outside, Ginny was smiling and laughing, but inwardly she wasn't. She was wondering what happened to him. All she wanted was the old Draco Malfoy - the troublemaker, the witty one; the dangerous one. She never thought that she would wish he was his cold, evil self, but for now, that's all she longed for.  
  
"So, where are we sitting Gin?" Draco questioned.  
  
"Well, I thought we'd swing by Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lavender's compartment so Byron can meet your favorite subjects of torture," Ginny told him mischievously.  
  
"Okay," was all Draco had to say.  
  
"Sounds like a ball - let's go!" Bryon said sounding excited. He reminded her so much of what Draco used to be - maybe even a bit nicer.  
  
Ginny led the way to the Dream Team's compartment and slid the door open. Draco opted to stay outside.  
  
"Hey guys!"  
  
"Hey Gin! Malfoy," Harry greeted.  
  
"What'd you bring him for?" Ron asked.  
  
"Ginny, they already know my name!" Byron said quietly, a little freaked out. He then pointed to Harry. "You must be Potter - judging by the ugly scar. And then there's Weasley, Brown and Granger." Byron said, acting as though it was some sort of guessing game. He was making himself look extremely dumb.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked, looking shocked at Byron's comment.  
  
"Guys, this is -" Ginny began.  
  
"So weird, does he have a concussion or something?" Lavender asked. "I hope so." She muttered underneath her breath.  
  
"No." Ginny said.  
  
"So he's just playing dumb," Harry deduced.  
  
"Hey!" Byron tried to cut in.  
  
"He doesn't have to PLAY, Harry," Ron chuckled, taking advantage of the situation.  
  
Draco took this moment to pop his head through the door to ask if they were ready to leave yet.  
  
All four pairs of arguing eyes rested on the REAL Draco Malfoy, confused by the whole situation.  
  
"Who's he?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Draco," Ginny said simply.  
  
"So, who's that?" Ron asked of Byron.  
  
"His cousin, Byron Malfoy, he's a seventh year this year," Ginny told them all logically.  
  
"Not another one!" Ron whinnied, receiving a slap on the arm from Lavender.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Byron. As you have already guessed, I'm Lavender."  
  
"Yes, and I'm Hermione Granger."  
  
"The pleasure is all mine, ladies," Byron told the two brunettes suavely.  
  
Ron and Harry's tempers were flaring, so Ginny seized her chance to make a quick and clean getaway.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll be seeing you then!" she said.  
  
"Yeah," Ron and Harry chorused, faces red, holding back the anger of seeing another Malfoy standing before them and flirting shamelessly with their girlfriends.  
  
Although Hermione and Lavender appeared to be disappointed, they said goodbye without complaint as the two Malfoys and Ginny headed out of the door, Ginny holding both of their arms and pushing them slightly faster than normal walking pace.  
  
"Well, wasn't that fun?" Ginny asked sardonically.  
  
"Why do you pick on those girls so much, Drake? They're plenty pretty," Byron wondered aloud, once they were out of earshot from the compartment holding the obviously outraged boys.  
  
"Granger's not a pureblood and Brown's annoying," Draco told him simply, taking a seat in an empty compartment towards the back of the train.  
  
"Annoying we can handle. Not sure about the Mudblood though," Byron reasoned, sitting across from Draco.  
  
Ginny cast Byron a sour look after his ill-chosen comment. Maybe he wasn't so great after all.  
  
The odd and unlikely trio talked for a while until there was a knock on the door. Ginny opened the door to reveal Nymphadora Tonks with her bubblegum pink hair again.  
  
"Tonks!" Ginny squealed, jumping from her place beside Draco to greet her favorite member of the Order.  
  
"Hey Gin!" the pink haired lady greeted the smallest Weasley.  
  
"What are you doing here?" the redhead asked incredulously.  
  
"Say hello to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! With the war appearing to be on the verge of ending, Dumbledore was having even more trouble finding a teacher as everyone thinks that Hogwarts will be You-Know- Who's final target. Things were slow for me at the Ministry as all the jobs are ones that require absolute quiet - so I took the job!" Tonks explained.  
  
"Wow! That's awesome!" Ginny exclaimed.  
  
Tonks' eyes darted from Ginny's face to the two boys that seemed to be accompanying her. They appeared to be twins at a glance.  
  
"Hey, Gin. I always knew you were a hot commodity, but since when do you date two guys?" Tonks teased.  
  
"I'm not dating two guys, Tonks. This is my boyfriend Draco and his cousin Byron," Ginny laughed.  
  
"Draco and Byron Malfoy?" Tonks questioned her young friend.  
  
"Yup. That'd be them."  
  
"How long have you and Draco been dating?"  
  
"Well, it's sort of been and on again, off again relationship for almost a year until recently. We've been pretty solid for the past few months," Ginny said proudly.  
  
"Wow, there's something I never would have expected from a Malfoy, and with a child of Arthur Weasley's no less!" Tonks commented, surprised. "Be careful," she added under her breath.  
  
"I will be," Ginny assured her.  
  
"Well, I think I'm going to go and take a nap before we arrive at the castle. I'll be seeing you in class," Tonks said, closing the door behind her.  
  
"How'd you know her?' Draco asked.  
  
"One of my Dad's friends, she's an Auror at the Ministry."  
  
"What did you say her name was?"  
  
"Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks. She prefers to be addressed by her surname only." Ginny told him.  
  
"What an odd lady," Byron remarked. "Did you see her hair? It's pink!"  
  
"Yes and tomorrow it will likely be long green and curly," the girl chuckled, "With a nice pig snout as well."  
  
Draco and Byron looked at Ginny with questioning looks.  
  
"Tonks is a metamorphmagus." Ginny revealed, their eyebrows were still furrowed so she went on, "She can change her appearance at will. It's unlikely that she will ever look exactly the same twice."  
  
"I don't think I've ever heard of that," Draco said.  
  
"Me neither," Byron said, "That sounds so strange."  
  
"I think she's brilliant," Ginny defended her friend.  
  
The rest of the train ride was fairly quiet and uneventful. Draco didn't hardly glance at her or touch her. Ginny wished to herself that she had the old Draco back once more. Not this dull, nicer and quieter version. He almost acted as though he didn't love her anymore.  
  
It was almost as if he had changed overnight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ta da! So there you have it! I know I know not my best work but really, it gets better! Sorry it took so long but please do review!! I love you guys!  
  
REVIEW~REVIEW~IT'S WHAT WE LIKE TO DO! 


	6. Resurection of The Secret Room

Chapter 6  
  
Title  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Finally, I am getting chapter six all ready to go and everything! Sorry it took so incredibly long!  
  
In this chapter you will meet a ton of new people, and a lot of these people are characters that will be very important to the plot line through the whole story. I typically do not like when new characters are introduced to be Ginny's friends in fan fictions, but it is absolutely necessary - plus without all of that, we wouldn't have Chloe! Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it!  
  
When you've finished reading just leave me a little note and tell me your thoughts on this!  
  
Disclaimer will be mentioned at the end so as not to ruin any of the chapter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Title  
  
Last time: Everyone had to go back to Hogwarts for the beginning of the New Year and they find out that Tonks will be their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
"I don't think I've ever heard of that," Draco said.  
  
"Me neither," Byron said, "That sounds so strange."  
  
"I think she's brilliant," Ginny defended her friend.  
  
The rest of the train ride was fairly quiet and uneventful. Draco didn't hardly glance at her or touch her. Ginny wished to herself that she had the old Draco back once more. Not this dull, nicer and quieter version. He almost acted as though he didn't love her anymore.  
  
It was almost as if he had changed overnight..  
  
Once the train arrived at Hogwarts, Byron, Draco and Ginny all got of the train and were greeted by pouring rain. Quickly, they ran to the 'horseless' carriages to seek shelter from the showers outside.  
  
Inside the carriage, the trio found that there was already a girl occupying one of the seats.  
  
"Hi Luna!" Ginny greeted enthusiastically. Last year, Luna had been involved in a foreign exchange student program and had been in America visiting the Salem Witchcraft and Wizardry Academy. Apparently the American girls had had some fun with Luna.  
  
"Hello, Gin!" the blonde girl smiled back. Her hair was a bit long and straight with a few highlights and her eyes sparkled mischievously. If Ginny hadn't known any better, she would have thought the girl sitting there across from her was a totally different girl.  
  
Ginny noticed that Byron was unashamedly gazing at Luna.  
  
"How was America?" she asked.  
  
"It was fantastic!" Luna exclaimed, "The people there are very friendly - always smiling to you on the streets and things. The boys were gorgeous as well."  
  
"Find one worth keeping?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah. I mean, there was one," Luna blushed, "His name is Trent. But we're just friends, he totally like another girl named Lindy, who's not right for him at all."  
  
"Wow, that's cool! So, how was the food?"  
  
"It was pretty good, not incredibly different from what we eat here. Still good though," Luna answered.  
  
"I'm glad you had a good time, Luna."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
America was a place Ginny wanted to see at one point in time and she made a mental note to ask Luna more about her trip later. But now was not the time, with Draco pouting in the corner about something and Byron drooling.  
  
At least Ginny could fix one of the two problems. She leaned over to Draco and put her head to his chest. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her protectively and his mood improved.  
  
A few short minutes later, their carriage stopped and they got out and walked into the large warm castle that served as their second home.  
  
Ginny took in castle once more. The hallways flickered with the candlelight and doors of all shapes and sizes lined the walls. The people in the portraits moved freely about, greeting the first years warmly and welcoming back the older students. Distantly, she could hear Peeves cackling followed by a loud splash of water; he was obviously armed with water balloons again.  
  
When Draco, Ginny, Byron, and Luna entered the Great Hall, they went their separate ways. Byron winked at Luna and went to find McGonagall so he could be sorted.  
  
Draco kissed briefly on the cheek before the couple went to their different tables.  
  
"Hey Gin!" Chloe greeted, motioning Ginny to the seat next to her.  
  
"What's up, Chloe?" the redhead asked in return, taking the seat across from her best friend.  
  
"I met these four girls on the train and they're all pretty cool. Well, except one, but I'm sure you could put her in her place. I bet two or three of them will be rooming with us. They're all pretty much Gryffindor material," Chloe told Ginny in her quick tongue.  
  
"That sounds cool. We need some more friends," Ginny said, "Not that you're not the greatest or anything."  
  
"Yeah, no one beats me," Chloe laughed.  
  
While Chloe and Ginny were laughing, McGonagall walked up toward the stage to explain the Sorting Ceremony to the first years and new students.  
  
"When I call your name, please take a seat on the stool and true on the hat. It will tell you which house you're to be in and you may then take off the hat and be seated at your table. First we have the new first years. Armour, Jasmine, please come forward," the stern woman announced, stepping aside.  
  
Ginny watched as a small girl of eleven with short black hair confidently strode toward the stool. She put on the old hat and waited few moments before the hat reached its conclusion.  
  
"Slytherin!" the hat announced.  
  
As Ginny's eyes followed the girl towards the furthest table, she caught Draco's eye. He winked at her, making her heart race at his devilish expression. Ginny blew him a small kiss, causing him to grin slightly.  
  
"Meet me in our secret room," Draco mouthed to her.  
  
Ginny nodded in acknowledgment as Ravenclaw received their new first year.  
  
Ginny turned her attention back to the Sorting. She watched other house get new housemates (such as Josh Catton for Slytherin, who seemed to take quite a liking to Draco and was eagerly asked him questions - or Emma Norris for Hufflepuff, who was so ecstatic she nearly fainted, and Ginny saw her whisper something about being in the same house as Cedric Diggory had been.)  
  
Soon it was time for the new, older students to be sorted. Ginny always liked this part because if there were new students then that meant new friends and new people to gossip about.  
  
First, an African American girl took her place on the stool. Ginny noticed she was very pretty with her large brown eyes and short hair. Moments later, the hat shouted 'Hufflepuff' and Chloe mumbled something about her having a pretty name.  
  
"Evie Madison. I like it," Chloe said.  
  
Next a girl that was of about the same height as Ginny had her name called.  
  
"Grove, Ashlyn."  
  
The girl was pretty with curly blonde hair that fell a few inches below her shoulders and what appeared to be bluish-purple eyes.  
  
"Gryffindor!" the hat screamed to the whole room.  
  
"I knew it!" Chloe roared, "That's Ashlyn, you'll love her! She's actually a lot like you," she said to Ginny.  
  
Ashlyn sat down across from Ginny and flashed her a smile before turning to watch the rest of the Sorting.  
  
"Mandela, Dabria!"  
  
A girl with shiny, medium-length, brown hair and large piercing blue eyes put the hat on next.  
  
The Sorting Hat took forever trying to decide were to put Dabria. Finally, it settled on Gryffindor.  
  
When Dabria sat down next to Ashlyn, she beamed brightly at everyone.  
  
"Can you believe it almost put me in Hufflepuff?" she asked, mortified at the thought of being split up from Ashlyn.  
  
Everyone sort of laughed before turning his or her attention back to the Sorting Hat.  
  
They watched as Slytherin gained an ugly girl with hair that could have rivaled that of Snape's in the grease department named Calista Starling. Ravenclaw received James Carmichael and Michael Jamison before Gryffindor welcomed Farrah Neely.  
  
Ginny knew right from the start that she and Farrah would be great friends. Farrah had straight reddish-blonde hair to her lower back and huge pretty blue eyes that were insanely dark. She was sort of short like Ginny and had a huge smile on her face when she waved to her friends. Ginny also noticed that she had dimples on both her cheeks.  
  
"Hey! I'm Farrah!" the girl said enthusiastically, waving at Ginny.  
  
"Hi, I'm Ginny," she smiled back.  
  
"This is quite the ordeal, isn't it?" Farrah asked while gazing around, as Chanda Popkin became a Hufflepuff.  
  
"Yeah it's a pretty big deal!" Ginny said jovially, "Oh, there's Byron!"  
  
"Wow, he's cute!" Farrah commented aloud, watching the tall blonde boy walk across the stage.  
  
"You think so?" Ginny asked, wiping her face clean from any emotion that would hint hat she agreed.  
  
"Slytherin!" the hat announced the instant it touched his hair.  
  
"Oh, I know so," Farrah said laughing.  
  
"Do you know him?" Ashlyn asked.  
  
"Yeah, he's my boyfriend's cousin," Ginny explained, casting a look at Draco. He appeared completely bored with everything - even though Josh was talking animatedly to him about something.  
  
Ginny looked up in time to see "Applequist, Katrice" become a Ravenclaw. She noticed that there were only two more girls left. One of them looked none too happy to be there.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco felt as though he were practically asleep. The Sorting seemed so boring for some reason! He almost felt bad for letting this Catton kid just ramble on about Quidditch when he had no intention of seriously listening.  
  
As Natalie Mitchell joined Slytherin, Catton said something that caught Draco's attention.  
  
"So, Malfoy - do you have any girlfriends? I'm sure all the girls love you!" The little boy said in his still somewhat high-pitched voice, looking eagerly at him.  
  
Draco admired the kid's bravery for talking so gregariously to a seventh year after being sorted into the Slytherin house just moments ago as a first year, so he answered.  
  
"Just one girl."  
  
"Really? I heard you had five or six!" Catton piped up, happy to have gotten a response at last.  
  
"Don't need more than one. They cause too much trouble." Draco told him gazing at Ginny, who was talking excitedly to a pretty new girl across from her. He then watched her face fall slightly as a haughty looking girl named Claire Redding was sorted into Gryffindor.  
  
"Then why even have one?" Catton questioned.  
  
"She's worth it."  
  
"Who is she, then?"  
  
"You see the pretty redheaded girl over there?" Draco asked, pointing to Ginny.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"That's her."  
  
"She is pretty!" Catton agreed enthusiastically, "But she's a Gryffindor! I didn't think that Slytherins dated or even LIKED any other house, especially not Gryffindor," Catton protested.  
  
"She's different. When you fall in love, you'll understand and put the rules aside." Draco assured him before Dumbledore began to speak.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts ladies and gentlemen! Or for those of you returning, welcome back! I do hope you've all had a good summer! For some start-of- term announcements, Mr. Filch asked me to tell you of all the things you must refrain from doing in the hallways and after hours, but I do not have that kind of time, so please use your common sense or look at the complete list that's posted on his door. I would also like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is once again off limits to all students at all times. Need I remind you of the incident with Professor Umbridge a few years back?" The old man asked with a twinkle in his eyes. "This year, I would like to welcome a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore said for the sixth year in a row.  
  
All of the students exchanged looks as if to ask what kind of psychotic teacher they would be supplied with this year.  
  
"Nymphadora Tonks - Professor Tonks to all of you. She's a good friend of mine, and an Auror at the Ministry.  
  
Everyone seemed impressed by her credentials but totally thrown off by the pink-haired lady who was standing amidst the polite applause.  
  
"Also this year, we will have two large, formal balls instead of the extensive amount we hosted last year. I would expect you all to either find formal robes or formal ball gowns like you all wore last year that the Muggles sell." Dumbledore suggested.  
  
"On a darker note, war is still around us, just as the Sorting Hat has advised you for the past few years, you must stick together as a school and no longer as four individual houses. Although it appears as though it is coming to a close, we must remain on our toes, ready for anything that may come our way. I'll leave you to think about that later, but for now, dig in!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny glanced down the table at the four new girls - Ashlyn, Dabria, Farrah, and Claire. Ashlyn, Farrah and Dabria looked excited and they stuffed their mouths with all the tasty food they could grasp. But Claire was just sitting at the end of the table, staring around her in disgust.  
  
Ginny leaned over to Ashlyn.  
  
"What's her problem?" Ginny asked, eyeing Claire.  
  
"No one really knows. She's been totally grouchy ever since we met her. Always complaining about the most marvelous of things, she comes off quite stuck up," Ashlyn told her newest friend as she took a look at the seemingly melancholy Claire.  
  
"I wonder why she acts like that?" Ginny asked quietly.  
  
Ashlyn only shrugged before changing the subject.  
  
"So you said you have a boyfriend?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. Draco Malfoy."  
  
"What House is he in?" Ashlyn asked out of curiosity.  
  
"Slytherin," Ginny told her, wondering if Ashlyn knew about the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor grudge match.  
  
"Wow, I heard they were all evil.born to follow You-Know-Who. A Gryffindor/Slytherin relationship is almost like a taboo from what I've heard! How'd you manage to find yourself a good one?" Ashlyn asked.  
  
Ginny already like this girl a lot. Even though Ashlyn had been told all those things about Slytherins, she still believed there could be a good one. She didn't second-guess Ginny's judgment.  
  
"He's over there, next to the sandy-haired boy and the black-haired girl," she said pointing him out.  
  
"The blonde one?" Ashlyn asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Wow! He's pretty fine looking! Does he have a brother?" she teased, laughing.  
  
"No - but he does have a cousin here who looks identical to him."  
  
"You're kidding!"  
  
"No, his name's Byron," Ginny said.  
  
"Oh yeah, I remember you telling us that! Maybe you could hook me up?" Ashlyn pleaded.  
  
"I don't know, Draco said he is dangerous. But, I could see what Draco thinks though," Ginny volunteered. If Byron really were as horrible as Draco said he was, then she wouldn't want to hook him up with one of her new friends.  
  
"Okay, sweet," Ashlyn agreed, taking a roll, "Oh yeah, and you can call me Ashe."  
  
"Cool, everyone calls me Gin."  
  
"Awesome, like the drink!" she laughed  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Ginny said. She'd never really thought about it like that before.  
  
"Hey, Ginny! Chloe told me you won the singing division of the talent contest last year! That's so cool!" Farrah exclaimed loudly.  
  
"Thanks!" Ginny said appreciatively.  
  
"I love to sing; maybe you and I could do a duet sometime. You'll have to tell me all about the contest," Farrah went on.  
  
"That sounds like a plan; I'm really not that great though!" Ginny warned, excited just to have another friend who was into singing.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm sure that's why you won!" Farrah laughed.  
  
Soon, it was time for everyone to start heading back to his or her common rooms. All the older students were yawning loudly and aching to get to their soft beds, as the first years were bright-eyed with excitement.  
  
Ginny was walking up the stairs, almost forgetting about the meeting Draco had called for, until a pair of strong arms came out and grasped her around the waist and pulled her into the shadowy corridor that was oh-so-familiar.  
  
"You know, you could have just waited for me and reminded me to come with you," Ginny said as he released her.  
  
Draco took her hand and began to walk down the dimly lit hall.  
  
"What would be the fun in that?" he asked, smirking slightly.  
  
Ginny laughed quietly as the couple walked into their old secret room. Everything was just as it was when they had left it.  
  
They sat down on the couch and Ginny rested her back on Draco's stomach. She laid her head back against his chest and closed her eyes, inhaling his scent.  
  
"This feels right," Ginny whispered, opening her eyes and gazing into the pools of silver looming above her.  
  
"I missed doing this over the summer," Draco told her, staring into her eyes.  
  
Ginny smiled warmly but for some reason her heart didn't twitch at all. Not like it used to. She hated that Draco's romantic comments no longer made her tingle. It just didn't seem like him anymore. Last year, she had been excited to change his awful attitude and prove to everyone that he could be changed. Now though, she was realizing that the fact of the matter was that his toughness and even his coldness added to his appeal. She didn't really want a guy that was always mushy and played it safe. And she knew he was only acting that way because he thought she wanted him to. Mr. Play-It-Safe wasn't him at all. He was dangerous and wild; carefree and witty, but sometimes charming and protective. As Ginny pondered those thoughts, Draco asked her a few questions.  
  
"So, what do you think of Byron so far?" Draco asked, secretly meaning, "Has he said anything I should kill him for?"  
  
"He seems okay to me. He kind of reminds me of how you used to be," Ginny said, hoping to get some sort of a reaction.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked her, slightly defensively.  
  
"He's dangerous, cold, tough and mysterious - you know," Ginny replied.  
  
"Are you saying that I'm no longer those things?' Draco asked, eyes boring into hers, searching for answers.  
  
"Yeah. Now the danger is gone, you've become extremely nice and sweet. You're even fairly nice to Gryffindors and first years," Ginny pointed out softly.  
  
"I thought that was what you wanted," Draco told the redhead, confused.  
  
"To a certain degree, but I love your danger and mystery. I love you like this too, but it'll just take some getting used to," Ginny explained.  
  
"We're just normal now," Draco told her reassuringly. He had never thought his danger was gone. It came as big news to him that no one really feared him anymore. He decided he would have to think the whole thing over when he went to bed.  
  
"Yeah, it's kind of nice," Ginny lied.  
  
Draco and Ginny stayed like that for several more minutes before they kissed goodnight and headed off to bed.  
  
They both had a lot of rethinking to do about their personalities and their relationships.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yay! There's you're next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!  
  
Also, tell me who you're favorite new character is and what you think Ginny and Draco should do!  
  
Disclaimer: Yay! I now own the plot line, Chloe Lynch, Payton Jackson, Andrew, and Sophie, Rachel, Andrew, Chris and Danica Weasley, Bryon Malfoy, Bella, Ashlyn Grove, Dabria Mandela, Claire Redding, Farrah Neely, James Carmichael, Katrice Applequist, Michael Jamison, Evie Madison, Chanda Popkin, Calista Starling, Natalie Mitchell, Mara, Elisabeth and Bailey Malfoy! JK Rowling owns everything and everyone else that you would possibly recognize! 


	7. She's Not an It!

For The Sake Of the Baby  
  
Written by: Dracoscutie  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I'm not making money (unfortunately), I don't claim J. K. Rowling's characters as my own (yet), and I own only a few lucky little characters in this fic (The list includes: Chloe Lynch, Payton Jackson, Andrew, and Sophie, Rachel, Andrew, Chris and Danica Weasley, Bryon Malfoy, Bella, Ashlyn Grove, Dabria Mandela, Claire Redding, Farrah Neely, James Carmichael, Katrice Applequist, Michael Jamison, Evie Madison, Chanda Popkin, Calista Starling, Natalie Mitchell, Mara, Elisabeth, Professor Stufflebean and Bailey Malfoy.). Oh yes and the plot. the plot belongs to me and me only!  
  
Author's Note: Oh wow, long time no see, huh? Erm. sorry about that one, I really did try but you must understand that I had to write it all and then type it all and do all my homework and study for all of my tests and it's just been a mite bit difficult, to say the least. Plus, I've been busy devising a plan to marry Tom Felton ... you know you do it, too! Lol! So it's here, it's not long at all . at least I don't think it is. But it's something. You do learn a few things pertaining to the plot in this chapter but it's really sort of a bridge to the next chapter - you know how that goes! I hope you enjoy it and find it at least a little bit entertaining!  
  
Hold on tight.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*  
  
Chapter 7 She's Not an It!  
  
Draco sat awake on his bed, still fully clothed and pondering everything Ginny had told him earlier that night.  
  
He was coming to the conclusion that he really wasn't as dangerous as he always had been; no one feared him anymore. The blonde boy couldn't ever remember the last time someone cowered before him in the hallway. When he really asked himself when he had become softer and why, he realized he had become a lot less dangerous in order to protect Ginny. He seemed to attract trouble and with the way upon them, that wouldn't be a very good quality if he didn't want either of them to end up dead. Especially since she seemed to attract enough of her own trouble to go around. It wasn't like him to be so nice or caring, but for now, it was the way things had to be.  
  
For Ginny. And for them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ginny lay in her bed, thinking over everything that had been running through her mind all day. There was only one word the kept repeating over and over in her mind.  
  
Danger.  
  
It was gone. Now Draco was normal and nice - just like every other boy in the school. This bothered Ginny a lot because the danger was what had really kept their relationship interesting - it was what they had that no one else did or ever would. If she had wanted someone normal and polite, she could have chosen from any of the hundreds of boys in the school - but that just wasn't her type. Draco was. Everyone feared him because of his cruelty and the danger that came along with being associated with him. At the same time, all the boys were jealous of him. His bad boy appeal had hooked more g irls than most guys would ever even dream of getting.  
  
Ginny rolled over and gazed out her window at the starry night's sky, admiring the beauty of it all.  
  
She supposed she would just have to get used to the new Draco. If it had to be done, then she would do it - for them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next day at Hogwarts was extremely chaotic, but none-the-less typical for the first day of classes.  
  
Ginny awoke to a room full of crazed girls. Her new roommates and Chloe were in a frenzy trying to find the right thing to wear, which was odd and pretty much pointless because whatever they spent three hours picking out would more than likely be covered by their robes all day.  
  
Ginny sat up in her bed and looked around groggily at all four of her roommates standing at the mirror. Evie was carefully making sure her hair was perfect after slipping her clothes on; Ashlyn was furiously trying on shirts - asking Chloe, who was surprisingly ready, whether or not she should wear them; and Dabria was putting on her lip-gloss, while bopping her head to a tune only she could hear.  
  
Ginny gathered that Farrah had gotten stuck with Claire and the other snobs from their year in another dorm. She pitied Farrah because she was such a nice girl and didn't really deserve that kind of torture.  
  
Putting her bare feet on the cold, hard floor, Ginny began to crawl out of bed. In a matter of moments, she too would join the pandemonium - but she needed some time to breathe first.  
  
"Gin, you're going to be so late!" Ashlyn exclaimed as she tried on what seemed like her forty-second shirt.  
  
"Nah, it won't take me too long," Ginny said, walking to the bathroom.  
  
And indeed it didn't. After a really quick shower, a drying charm, lip gloss and a pair of jeans with a small Chudley Cannons t-shirt - she was ready. Thankfully, everyone else finished up quickly as well.  
  
The first class of the day was Charms and since they had missed breakfast, the girls just headed straight for Professor Flitwick's classroom.  
  
As soon as they entered the room and took their seats, the short man walked in and presumed his place behind his desk, on a stack of books. After looking down his role call list to make sure everyone was accounted for when the bell rang, he looked up and smiled at the class before him.  
  
"Hello everyone! Another year at Hogwarts means new charms of course, but today will be review for you all, to get reacquainted with your wants," Flitwick said. "So, if you would, please practice you favorite charm - nothing too dangerous and please be sensible about it! I will venture to think that you don't want detention the fir night back!" He said as he stepped down, signaling they should all begin.  
  
Ginny and Chloe pulled out their wands slowly, watching Dabria master her first charm gracefully.  
  
"Avis," the candy sweet voice said before a small flock of birds escaped her wand and fluttered around the room a few times. After one pooped on Dean's head, they all flew out the open window.  
  
"Oops, sorry Dean!" Dabria laughed before turning to Ashlyn and giving her a high five.  
  
Ashlyn then turned toward the girl, Mara, from the train ride home and whispered something nobody could hear, causing a small blue flame to erupt from her wand and land at the hem of Mara's robes.  
  
"Oh gosh, she just cast the bluebell flame and set fire to Mara!" Chloe gasped quietly.  
  
"Shhh!" Ginny said, fighting back a laugh as she saw Ashlyn turn innocently away from Mara just before the girl spotted it and began hopping up and down as Flitwick rushed to her assistance and put out the flame.  
  
"How did this happen?' Flitwick demanded, glaring up at his students.  
  
When no one said anything, her grew even huffier and stomped across the room to stand on his pile of books behind his desk and began mumbling to himself.  
  
"This is the last time."  
  
Ashlyn was about ready to wet herself from trying to keep from laughing every time she caught sight of Mara's singed robes in the corner of her eye.  
  
Eventually, Charms ended and as soon as the girls stepped into the crowded hallway, they let the laughter loose, causing quite a few turned heads.  
  
"So were to now?' Dabria asked the group after she had gotten all of the laughter out. She was aware that not everyone was heading to the same class and hoped that someone would be going her way because she really could not find her way there by herself.  
  
"Umm, Muggle Studies," Farrah said, getting a nod of agreement from Ashlyn.  
  
"Oh," Dabria said, thinking she would have to find someone to help her along the way.  
  
"I'm going to Health with Stufflebean and so is Chloe," Ginny offered, turning Dabria's head.  
  
"Great! Me too," Dabria said happily, "But I don't have the first clue about how to get there."  
  
Ginny led the way to Stufflebean's room and managed to get them all there with a minute or so to spare. Once inside, the girls found Andrew, Draco, Claire, Byron and Blaise. Chloe immediately shoved her way to Andrew - apparently experiencing withdrawal form seeing him only once in the summer. Draco made her way toward Claire's desk and reluctantly took the seat next to her - having been given the ultimatum of Claire or Byron; she chose the lesser of the two evils.  
  
Ginny saw that Blaise had found Dean long ago and now the two were speaking quietly to each other in their own little corner of the room. Ginny moved instinctively to Draco and sat down next to him, giving him a wide smile - but not before she saw Byron wink at her in the corner of her eye.  
  
"Hey Gin," he greeted her, grinning slightly.  
  
"Hey Draco! How's it going?" Ginny asked him, putting on her best smiley face.  
  
"Okay; that Catton kid kept me up half the night though, so I'm living on about four hours of sleep," Draco told her.  
  
"Have you ever heard of the Catton family before?" Ginny asked. Since Josh was in Slytherin, she could generally assume that his family had some ties with the Dark side - and if so, then Draco would know about it.  
  
"I've heard the name but I can't really remember anything about the family. My father mentioned them a time or two," Draco said as the bell rang.  
  
Ginny nodded, knowing that Stufflebean was coming. And sure enough - within seconds, the strict lady waked through the door carrying a large bag in her arms.  
  
"Hello, class. Glad to see a few familiar faces in the crowd, as well as some new ones for this year's Health class. For those of you who didn't take Health last year, you need not worry about falling behind, as there is no prerequisite for taking this class - everyone will be in the same place. Any questions?' She asked, looking around at her large class.  
  
A few students shook their heads, but most remained quiet, anxious to see what was in store for them in the bag.  
  
"Alright then, let's get started. Every year, the school requires us to do something to prevent pregnancy or STDs in the school. Last year, we did some projects about STDs, but this year the project will entail a lot more effort than just a small little project," she said. And with that being said, she opened the bag and poured out small packages with writing on them that was illegible.  
  
"Engorgio!" Stufflebean shouted and the small miniscule parcels swelled into bags of what seemed like -  
  
"Flour?" Claire snorted haughtily, eyeing the large sacks with disgust.  
  
"Exactly," the professor said proudly.  
  
"What will that teach us?" Blaise questioned.  
  
"It's not cooking class," Claire reminded her.  
  
"I have put a charm on each flour sack to act like a child - a baby, actually. Each will cry at random times for various reasons. Every baby will be given a set of parents for a period of two weeks. If the baby does not stay with its' assigned parents, I assure you that you will experience many difficulties until the baby is returned - not to mention that points will be docked from both parties involved.  
  
"Furthermore, if you loose your child, you must find it before it dies of starvation and/or neglect.  
  
"When I pass out the children, you will receive a permanent marker and you will need to come up with a name for it. This project is supposed to scare you, so-to-speak, into waiting to have sex.  
  
"All of my instructions are in a packet, which you will receive with your child. All of your teachers have been informed of the project and should be tolerant of it," Stufflebean finished. "I need you all to pick a partner of the opposite sex and come forward to collect your child, please."  
  
Ginny and Draco stood up and got in line in front of Blaise and Dean, Dabria and Byron and Claire and Seamus, among others.  
  
Draco was not exactly thrilled with this project. When he spent time with Ginny, he didn't want a crying flour sack hanging around as well, but he knew that there as nothing he could do about it.  
  
As he and Ginny sat back down, Ginny turning to him and asked something he hadn't been totally prepared for.  
  
"What do you want to name it?"  
  
"Er - I don't know."  
  
"Oh come on, Draco! It'll be fun! I think it should be a girl," Ginny urged.  
  
"I'm not really good at this kind of stuff," Draco said quietly.  
  
"Fine then, her name will be Adrienne - Addie for short," Ginny said taking the marker and writing the name on the sack in large, capital letters.  
  
"Sounds good," Draco noted.  
  
Stufflebean came around to collect the markers while there were still several minutes left in class. In those last minutes, Addie began crying loudly. When Draco and Ginny ran out of ideas to make her stop crying, Draco pulled out his wand and began to put the silencing charm on her, when Stufflebean stopped him.  
  
"You are not to use magic on your baby, as you wouldn't use it on a real child - every spell, curse or charm you use will cause massive pint deduction," she warned him before staring pointedly at the class as a whole.  
  
Eventually, Ginny got Adrienne to stop crying by bouncing her gently on hr hip. Obviously, Ginny had the patience and the natural mother gene that Draco would probably never grasp.  
  
When the bell ran, Ginny surprised Draco again by handing him Addie.  
  
"What are you doing?" Draco asked as the heavy sack of lour came to rest in his arms.  
  
"You get to take her with you to your next class," the redhead explained.  
  
"Gin, do you really think that's a good idea?" He asked, unsure of hi abilities to properly care for her.  
  
"Of course I do; unless you have any objections," she said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Okay, I'll take it," Draco replied, putting up less of a fight than she had expected.  
  
"Good," she said, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "And Draco - she is not an IT - she's our child." Then she walked out of the room, leaving Draco confused.  
  
"But it's a flour sack," he mumbled to himself before heading off to Charms. 


	8. People Are Talkin'

For The Sake Of the Baby  
  
Written by: Dracoscutie  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Disclaimer: Mine? You think this is mine? Pfff. you're losing it. The new people are mine though, as is the plot line, so get used to it! Ha-ha, just kidding - no money is being made, which is unfortunate, since I'm broke.  
  
Author's Note: Hola, everyone! I'm back again, sooner than you expected? Sooner than I expected too, actually! Anyhow, here I am - the first chapter after I've taken my finals and before I have to get a job. That should be a joyous occasion. Or not. So, today I was reading some fics and I became inspired to give you a little bit of action now! Yay, good for you! You will finally have the beginning of a plot developing! So now you can go read it and tell me what you think!  
  
Go on.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 8  
  
People Are Talkin'  
  
Potions was one of the most interesting classes Ginny had ever attended in her six years at Hogwarts. Apparently, someone had put a Cheering Charm on Snape, causing him to hum merrily the whole hour - frequently giving out points to anyone who so much as attempted an answer and to top it all off, he was introducing Love Potions today.  
  
Quite bluntly, this terrified Ginny tremendously. She was not used to her rotten Potions teacher skipping about the dungeon like he was, explaining to his students the essentials of a Love Potion. Snape was acting almost the gossipy little girls that he often awarded detentions to. One might think that a teacher would come and set him straight, but no such luck. Everyone in the school was enjoying this far too much to intrude upon something so funny. Making the Love Potion was against the Hogwarts school rules, but Dumbledore had decided that it would be okay as a homework assignment - since they were under the watchful eye of Severus Snape, no matter how giddy he may have been at the time  
  
"After you add the Fluxweed and let it stew for 13 minutes, you must quickly add the Ashwinder eggs - careful not to spill any though as they can be extremely dangerous when left about for anyone to pick up," Snape warned, smiling.  
  
Ginny dumped her ingredients into the cauldron and did as Snape was cheerfully instructing her.  
  
"So, Gin; what's wrong?" Chloe asked suddenly from beside the redhead. At the moment, she was trying to empty the contents of her Ashwinder eggs into the cauldron without letting any spill over the edge.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, not turning her head from her potion.  
  
"You just haven't been yourself - especially around Draco. You always seem to be irritated by something that no one else manages to pick up on," Chloe explained, looking concerned. She was beginning to think that Ginny was coming down with something.  
  
"Nothing's wrong," Ginny said quietly, glancing back down to add the new ingredients that the professor was rattling off.  
  
"Yes there is," Chloe said, "and I think I know what it is."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"It's Draco isn't it?" Chloe asked, waiting patiently for Ginny's answer.  
  
"Yes," Ginny gave in.  
  
"He's changed; lost his edge, hasn't he?" the blonde smirked knowingly, stealing a glance at her best friend, hoping she'd struck a nerve.  
  
"Exactly!" Ginny exclaimed, adding the finishing touches to her love potion. "So what should I - it really is starting to bug me!"  
  
"It would bother me, too. But I think that you should maybe just accept it and carry on, you know? Not much you can do about it is there?"  
  
"How do you suggest I do that? He's a totally different person now than the one I fell in love with - that's hard enough to ignore, let alone grasp," Ginny said exasperated, turning toward Chloe in her fit of rage, the tears in the corners of her eyes clearly evident.  
  
"Then you could always break up with him," Chloe suggested sadly.  
  
"Uh-uh, no way! I'm not going through that again!" Ginny squealed as Snape came around with vials to bottle the potion with. Most girls in the class managed to grab two while Snape was whistling merrily - one to hand in and one to keep.  
  
"Then accept it, I mean - you did try talking to him about it, didn't you?' Chloe asked, bottling up her potion and slipping a vial into her robes - placing the other on the table so she could clean up her mess.  
  
"Yeah, I tried to talk to him about it and he just said we were normal now," Ginny told her, slipping a vial into her robes as well, before cleaning up her things.  
  
"Well, you are. Not everyone's love lives are quite that exciting. You were lucky to have something like that. Well, not the whole Colin thing and all, but you know what I'm talking about," Chloe pointed out. "That's over now, though."  
  
"I'm not normal though, Chloe and my love life should be normal either. I'm dating THE Draco Malfoy for crying out loud! What about this relationship is normal?" the redhead raged, grasping the vial she was about to turn in.  
  
"I don't know Gin, but he's doing it for you. I suggest that you be thankful for what he's trying to do for you," Chloe advised her best friend.  
  
"I probably should be," Ginny agreed as both girls took their love potions up to a giddy Professor Snape.  
  
"Thank you, girls!" Snape chirped, graciously accepting the pink tubes.  
  
Chloe smiled politely before turning around and shuddering at the though of her cruel Potions teacher acting so genuinely happy. As nice as it was to have a little break - it was also pretty creepy.  
  
"I wonder how long he'll be like that?" Chloe asked aloud.  
  
"No clue. I honestly don't know which way I prefer him. Too bed there's not a happy medium," Ginny said as the bell ran for dismissal. "I wonder how Draco's doing with Addie."  
  
"I know - I gave Payton our baby, too. It'd be funny to see how Draco handles it though," Chloe giggled.  
  
"Hopefully, she's still in one piece," Ginny said fearfully.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Professor, could I please take the thing into the hall?" an exhausted and embarrassed Draco asked Flitwick.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, you must stay in class, no matter how much it cries," the professor answered before going back to his lecture.  
  
"I knew it was an it!" Draco mumbled to himself as he bounced the flour sack lightly until it finally calmed down, causing him to miss a lot of what was being said in the class. Eventually, he caught up with the rest of the class and began practicing the new sleeping spell on the guinea pig in front of him. Suddenly a horrible urge filled him. He wondered if he cast the spell on the flour sack - would it stay asleep?  
  
Would it ever wake up? Would he HAVE to tell Ginny? He supposed she would find out eventually but all he would have to say was that he lost it and he could stash it in his common room. He'd rather fail the class than keep this thing for 5 more minutes, even if it was asleep. After toying with the idea, Draco decided that it would be best not to - he'd rather not give Ginny a reason to be angry with him. Grudgingly, he pulled his eyes away from the stupid flower sack and surveyed the class. Even though it was easy for him to resist the temptation, Blaise had not been so lucky.  
  
The sack was screaming louder than ever, disrupting any hope of returning to a regular class - all because Blaise had lost her temper.  
  
"Ms. Zabini, what have you done?" Flitwick questioned, angrily. All hour he had had those flour sacks interrupting his every other word. This was the last straw. He knew that they weren't supposed to use magic on their flour sacks - but he was ready to get them all to be quiet. "Give that thing to me."  
  
Blaise handed Flitwick her child with the fear evident in her eyes. No matter how much the classic Slytherin she was, they had never seen Flitwick this angry and it was fairly unpredictable as to what would come of it.  
  
The old man cradled the "baby" in his arms and undid the charm, causing the baby to quiet down.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Blaise asked him. Wouldn't he want her to fail, since she had not followed directions properly?  
  
"I would rather you get a grade you didn't deserve and make that thing quiet than give you the grade you do deserve and keep that thing crying," Flitwick explained, handing her back the flour sack and cooling down before going back up to his little podium and resting his face in his hands.  
  
Draco smirked at Blaise's embarrassed face and knew that within an hour, the news about Blaise trying to charm her flour sack would spread around school like wildfire.  
  
Pansy Parkinson turned to Draco and smiled grotesquely.  
  
"Draco, how stupid was Zabini for thinking that she could charm her kid?" the pug-faced girl scoffed with an evil smirk of her own.  
  
"It was actually a wise move, seeing as she got Flitwick to shut it up for real and she's not even going to be in trouble with Stufflebean since he undid the spell for her. There's nothing stupid about that," Draco remarked, wanting nothing more than for Pansy to shut up.  
  
Pansy fell speechless at this and turned away for a moment. Then a thought came to her; a piece of gossip that had come to her via a little birdie.  
  
"So Draco, still dating the Weasel's sister?" she inquired.  
  
"What's it to you?"  
  
"Just wanted to make sure you're keeping her locked up and away from everything," Pansy said slyly, wanting him to ask for more.  
  
"What's everything?" Draco asked cautiously.  
  
"You haven't heard?" Pansy asked innocently.  
  
"Obviously not, Parkinson so stop toying with me," Draco growled. Pansy's mind games drove him absolutely up the wall.  
  
"Believe me, Draco, if I were toying with you, you would know," she smirked, giving him the once over, before going on. "That cousin of yours is quite the ladies man. Probably more than you'll ever know. You have his potential, of course, but you choose not to use it - stupid of you, if you ask me," Pansy said.  
  
Draco was growing impatient. He knew about Byron's tendencies to date at least three girls at a time and it never took him long to find those three girls, either. So why Pansy was choosing to tell him this was fairly odd.  
  
"Anyway, he's already been with four girls," Pansy said.  
  
"So? What has that got to do with me - or Ginny for that matter?" Draco asked. This information was nothing new to him and didn't seem to carry any matter of importance. Who really cared if Byron was already dating four girls?  
  
"I don't mean 'been with' in the sense of the word that you're thinking. These four girls had the times of their lives - from what I hear, he's the best and he can rope in anyone. No matter how goody-goody or loyal they are. He has the ability to keep them up all night and they're not drinking tea," Pansy said, eyebrows raised - signifying her satisfaction with this piece of Hogwarts gossip.  
  
"Parkinson, you're ruining my lunch," Draco said, feeling a bit uneasy at the talk of his cousin's love-life.  
  
"Rumor has it that he's after your precious Weasley. She's his prize - what he's working for. Never seen a girl like that one, so off-limits and all, being your girlfriend - and a Weasley. And he's going to treat her nicely, better than you probably ever will," Pansy told Draco sneering nastily.  
  
"How do you know this, Parkinson, do enlighten me," Draco said, putting up a sarcastic front. He was slightly worried about all of this because Byron was known to want the taken girls and take the wanted ones. Not that he was worried, Ginny was safe with him - she would never have to come into contact with Byron again, if all of this was actually true.  
  
"Let's just say, a little birdie told me."  
  
"Or you could tell me who did it and save me a lot of trouble," Draco demanded.  
  
"Well, you could call it a woman's intuition," Pansy said quietly looking down. She then lifted her eyes so she was looking directly into his eyes with a seductive grin, "Or you could know that I had the time of my life last night."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
After Herbology, Ginny trudged down to lunch, eagerly hoping there was a warm bowl of soup waiting for her. The September breeze was chilly that day and she hadn't really dressed for the occasion. But then, neither had Dabria and she seemed to be doing fine.  
  
"So, Ginny, do you think you could hook me up with a guy around here any time in the near future?" Dabria asked, plodding happily along in her heels and mini-skirt.  
  
"Sure, what's your type?" Ginny questioned, happy to help out one of her new best friends. Dabria was one of the sweetest and most loving people she had gotten to know this year and if she wanted a boyfriend, Ginny wasn't going to interfere. There were plenty good ones for her, as far as Ginny was concerned.  
  
"Oh I don't know - I sort of like bad boys - but not too bad. If they were cute, that'd be a plus and I want someone who will make me laugh," the brunette giggled.  
  
Her requests wouldn't be too hard to full-fill. It was really a good thing that she wasn't picky or she probably would never find someone. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind nearly knocked the two girls off their feet.  
  
"I'll find someone for you, Dabe! We better hurry inside though, it looks like it might rain," Ginny said, regaining her balance.  
  
Dabria glanced down at her heeled shoes and then back up at Ginny. Quickly, she un-strapped them and pulled them off just as it began to sprinkle. Grabbing both shoes by the straps in one hand and Ginny's hand in the other, Dabria began to run across the now-muddy lawn of Hogwarts, trying her best not to get too wet.  
  
Once inside the warm castle, Dabria put her shoes back on and looked at Ginny.  
  
"So, what's for lunch?"  
  
"Soup I think," Ginny told her, "or at least I hope."  
  
The two girls tried to regain their composure and dry off a bit before joining their classmates in the Great Hall. Eventually, they were presentable enough to at least stick their now-damp hair into ponytails and walk in the doors.  
  
As soon as they walked into the Great Hall, they were met with complete silence and somber expressions and they knew that something had gone terribly wrong.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Goody! My first real cliffy in this story! Okay, so I found my chapter finally the disk decided to load it but it had deleted half of the chapter so I just decided to end it a little sooner to get you guys a chapter! This chapter, like the last one isn't beta'd yet. I decided that I needed to put it up right now so in a matter of time it will be corrected and everything! I hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think of it!  
  
Oh yes - and to WOFFER, who reviewed and picked up on the sack of flour. It was picked up from 8 simple rules yes - I was going to just put this at the end of the fic with the complete disclaimer but since you picked up on it so quickly, yes you are correct! You will see that in the future there will be further similarities - including the concept of the title! 


	9. A Change in the Wind

Chapter 9  
  
A Change in the Wind  
  
For the Sake of the Baby  
  
Dracoscutie  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own a darn thing. Well, I do own some characters and most of the plot - but nothing else, I tell you!  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Author's Note: See, this is fairly prompt now isn't it? This could happen almost every time now that all my crap is over and I've got nothing better to do than write, which is a really lucky break for me, I suppose! It's a happy day! I should be writing my speech but really, how much work could a demonstration speech take? Anyhow, I will ONLY, UNDER ONE CIRCUMSTANCE update like this repeatedly is, if I get plenty of reviews. I see it as fair, I write a story, you write a review - drop me a line, I get lonely! Here is the next chapter for you guys!  
  
Aren't you excited.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 9  
  
A Change in the Wind  
  
Know all about  
  
About your reputation  
  
And how it's bound to be a heartbreak situation  
  
But I can't help it if I'm helpless  
  
Every time that I'm where you are  
  
You walk in and my strength walks out the door  
  
Say my name and I can't fight it anymore  
  
Oh I know, I should go  
  
But I need your touch just too damn much  
  
Loving you isn't really something I should do  
  
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you  
  
That I should try to be strong  
  
But baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
Might be a mistake  
  
A mistake I'm making  
  
But what you're giving I am happy to be taking  
  
Cause no one's ever made me feel  
  
The way I feel when I'm in your arms  
  
They say you're something I should do without  
  
They don't know what goes on  
  
When the lights go out  
  
There's no way to explain  
  
All the pleasure is worth all the pain  
  
Loving you isn't really something I should do  
  
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you  
  
That I should try to be strong  
  
But baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
I should try to run  
  
But I just can't seem to  
  
Cause everything I run you're the on I run to  
  
Can't do without, what you do to me  
  
I don't care if I'm in too deep  
  
Know all about  
  
About your reputation  
  
And how its' bound to be a heartbreak situation  
  
But I can't help it if I'm helpless  
  
Every time that I'm where you are  
  
Oh I know I should go  
  
But I need your touch just too damn much  
  
Loving you isn't really something I should do  
  
Shouldn't wanna spend my time with you  
  
That I should try to be strong  
  
But baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong  
  
*The Right Kind of Wrong - Leanne Rimes  
  
"Byron."  
  
Everywhere Ginny focused her attentions to; she heard his name being repeated over and over again. Apparently, there was some meaning behind it - but Ginny couldn't figure it out.  
  
"Crazy.girls.forced.maybe.Ginny."  
  
These words appeared over and over again, as well within the conversations she could hear. What her name was doing with that particular group of words, she couldn't quite say.  
  
Dabria arched an eyebrow as the Hall became deathly quiet. Everyone had finally taken note of their presence and resorted to staring innocently at them, as though there had never been any sort of conversation about Ginny. They waited Ginny's next more, to see if she would clarify whatever bit of information they had obviously gotten a hold of - or deny she'd been involved in anything newsworthy.  
  
Knowing that either road could possibly lead to destruction, she remained silent. Quickly, she searched her mind for something, anything to say or do to remove herself from the spotlight.  
  
Whispers started to take form and spread through the Hall, so Dabria took charge.  
  
"So, Gin - how do you think you did on that Herbology quiz?" she asked nonchalantly as she began leading Ginny to the Gryffindor table under the watchful of the entire school.  
  
"Oh, you know - I think I did pretty well - question number five was a though one though. It's hard to say," Ginny said, playing along.  
  
"Yeah, who knew Sprout even GAVE quizzes," Dabria added.  
  
Eventually, the girls reached their table and the chatter returned to a normal level. Most took the hint to bugger off and began talking about Quidditch of the Weird Sisters, but every once in a while, you could hear those few key words working themselves into random conversations in a snakelike manner, especially at the Slytherin table.  
  
"What do you think that was all about?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I couldn't tell you. That was honestly one of the weirdest things I've ever had happen to me, we just walked in and they all stared at us," Dabria told her, piling her plate high with rolls and filling her bowl with steaming potato soup.  
  
"I really can't think of anything I've done lately that would merit a reaction like that from anyone. It's only a few days into the school year - what could I have possibly done?" Ginny asked, more to herself than to anyone else.  
  
Just then, a blonde head quickly made its way over to Ginny and Dabria.  
  
"Ginny, you won't believe the rumors," Chloe said as she sat herself down across the table from her best friend. "I've never heard anything like it."  
  
"What is it?" Ginny asked anxiously, knowing that Chloe could very well be talking about the same thing the rest of the school was buzzing on about.  
  
"Byron," Chloe said, her eyes lit up at such a juicy bit of gossip she had managed to overhear. "Four girls, Gin - four."  
  
"What about four girls?" Ginny asked, a little disappointed in the lack of information. Dabria, too, looked unimpressed by the vague statement.  
  
"Byron had five girls."  
  
"Okay - by 'had them' you mean."  
  
"In his bed," Chloe said grinning. "All last night, apparently. Rumor has it that a night with Byron is not just any ordinary run through the mill."  
  
"This is so disgusting, Chloe - I am trying to eat," Dabria pointed out as she shoveled a spoon full of hot soup into her mouth.  
  
"Don't you think that's even the slightest bit interesting?" Chloe asked, crestfallen by Dabria's behavior. Surely, Ginny would think it a bit more interesting. She and Ginny had always taken an unhealthy interest in other people's love lives - and now the hottest piece of information to ever reach them was here.  
  
But no, Ginny was sitting there, looking extremely uninterested in any of it. Her mind was completely elsewhere at the moment. Chloe was shocked - she had just revealed the best part of the story to her and Ginny was sitting there like a bump on a log, eating a roll as if nothing else but her roll could possibly hold any entertainment value.  
  
"Ginny?"  
  
"Yes, Chloe?"  
  
"What do you think about the whole thing so far?" Chloe asked, warily - unsure if maybe her friend was sick.  
  
"It's just a rumor. No one said that it was true - plus it's his own business," Ginny explained, still not taking her eyes off the roll. In actuality, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with any part of Draco's cousin's love life - especially while she was eating. Even though she knew Byron to be quite the ladies man, she highly doubted he'd already been with four girls in one night - it was nearly impossible. Most of all though, she wondered why her name had been included in the school's version of this story.  
  
"Just a rumor? Have you not seen Byron? It's entirely possible, based on the number of 'easy' girls in our school and the hotness that Byron possesses," Chloe said, "plus, that's not the whole rumor. But I can take the hint when you're not interested." Chloe said, sniffling slightly and replacing the ecstatic look on her face to one of boredom as she dished up her soup.  
  
"Then tell me the rest. You can't expect me to hear half of the rumor and find it nearly as entertaining as someone did who had just heard the whole thing do you? And don't you go getting all dramatic on me either," Ginny said eagerly, maybe her friend would finally tell her what it all meant.  
  
"Fine, but don't expect me to be happy about it," Chloe said, before continuing. "Byron, had four girls in his room last night, all of which at different times. Rumor has it that none of them knew about each other (obviously) and that he lured them there, unfairly."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"Supposedly, none of those girls had asked for what happened to them. He told them that he wanted to talk, get to know them better and then once they got their, he attacked them," Chloe finished.  
  
"I hardly believe that," Ginny said simply.  
  
"Why do you find this so hard to believe?"  
  
"First of all, how do you go to Byron's room in the wee hours of the morning and seriously just expect him to talk to you? What did he have to say to leave them so unsuspecting? 'Love, I'm feeling a bit lonely tonight and I feel I need someone whom I can chat with. And if you'll be so kind, please wear the naughtiest lingerie you own.'? I hardly think so. Secondly, if Byron's so high and mighty as every girl thinks he is, then why would any one of the 'easy' girls say no?" Ginny asked, picking at her roll.  
  
"That's just the story I heard," Chloe said defensively.  
  
"And who is so reliable that we can actually take their word for the real thing?" Ginny asked sharply.  
  
"I never said she was reliable," Chloe told her, "but it was Pansy Parkinson."  
  
Ginny let out a burst of laughter that drew brief attention to the table.  
  
"Pansy? She was probably one of the girls that were up there in her see- through garments and whatnot, doing whatever Byron implied," Ginny said.  
  
"That wouldn't make her unreliable - why would she want to share that with three other girls if she was just making it all up?" Chloe asked. "And anyway, there's more to the story. This bit might interest you."  
  
"What's that?" Ginny asked, impatiently.  
  
"Supposedly, Byron has a 'mission' so-to-speak, to get all the girls Hogwarts, and you, my dear, top the list. You are his reward and day- dream, his cousin's girlfriend and completely off-limits as a Weasley. He is a Malfoy, after-all," Chloe said raising her eyebrows and donning a diabolical look. Apparently, this was funny to her.  
  
"That's sick. It can't be true, Chloe," Ginny said, her voice low as though trying to convince herself.  
  
"Why not?" Chloe asked.  
  
"I know Byron a lot better than you or Pansy does - "  
  
"You've talked to him like twice."  
  
"And no matter how much of a womanizer he is - "  
  
"Apparently that's pretty good."  
  
"He wouldn't want anything from me. He knows it's wrong," Ginny said finally, looking Chloe in the eyes, as if that alone would convince her of Byron's innocence.  
  
"You should ask him, then," Chloe suggested like it had been no big deal.  
  
"First, before I start anything with anyone else, I have to talk to Draco," Ginny said.  
  
"What are you going to tell him?" Chloe asked eagerly.  
  
"That I love him and that nothing will come between us. I accept his change and I realize that it's all for the best, so he'd better know that before I even start thinking about Byron," Ginny told her.  
  
"Good, you two are the cutest couple. I don't think any of us could bear it if you guys broke up again," Chloe smiled.  
  
"They've broken up before?" Dabria asked, intrigued now that she was done with her soup.  
  
"Oh yes. It was probably the most traumatic thing this school has seen in a relationship," Chloe said jokingly. "It was already forbidden and then they went and did it anyway - once everyone sort of got over the shock of that whole thing, then they find out about their earlier break-up. But I'll fill you in later, when Ginny's with Draco tonight.  
  
"Okay, well I better get going, we have class in a little while and I need to go and change clothes, it's so cold in here," Ginny said, standing up.  
  
"Alright then, see you later," Chloe said, "and if I don't get to talk to you again, good luck with Draco."  
  
"Yeah, good luck," Dabria echoed.  
  
"Thanks, I have the feeling that I'll need it," Ginny smiled as she walked away.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Byron knew that nasty things were being spread about him around the school. These things always happened. Fortunately, he loved giving them something to talk about just as much as they loved talking about it. Okay, so it had been a bit of a stretch - there had only been three girls, but really - what was one more? There was only one girl who could fulfill his lust and desire. He knew why and there was no denying it. She was gorgeous - more so than any girl he'd ever known, with her beautiful silky tresses shimmering in the sun and a body to die for.  
  
Draco had her though, and that was not likely to change anytime in the near future. Not without a little help anyway. Byron couldn't wait that long to have his desires satisfied, he needed her now. Those other girls would just be stand-ins until little Virginia Weasley could be his very own.  
  
He was willing to do whatever it takes to win her over. How could she possibly opt to stay with his boring-as-dirt cousin when she could easily have him all to herself? It just wasn't logical. So he had prodded forward a bit by sending her a flower. Not just any flower though, a white violet, which meant simply "Let's take a chance". Although, Ginny wouldn't catch this significance - he knew exactly what it meant. He didn't sign his name to anything, so she would probably assume it was from an admirer - but that wouldn't stop him, he would send her a flower everyday until she got the picture and left that boring-as-cold-toast cousin of his.  
  
Who knows how long he would wait.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Ginny made her way down the dark corridors that night she unconsciously noticed for the first time that she had made an attempt to look sexy. Maybe everything would be alright if she told him that she was okay with his transformation and he thought she was attractive. With a white mini- skirt that served little purpose and a slim-fitting green t-shirt, she had let her hair fall in ringlets down her back.  
  
She was almost to the door and almost ready to face everything she was scared to death of confronting. She hadn't really wanted him to change - not at all. She loved him the way he was, nothing less and nothing more. But it may never be again and she would have to accept that and keep her chin up.  
  
Ginny whispered the Slytherin password and put the hood of the cloak she had brought with her over her delicate face so no one in the common room would notice her presence as an outsider.  
  
The redhead made her way up the steps in a confidant way, giving no reason why she shouldn't be there; she looked like one of them from the outside. She passed Blaise on the stairs and made eye-contact with her. Blaise smirked knowingly and sent her a look that merely said, 'good luck'. Ginny smiled mischievously and put her head down again to keep walking towards Draco's private quarters.  
  
Upon entrance, Ginny saw him lying across his four poster bed, staring longingly up at the ceiling as though it held some sort of divine secret of life. He looked - different tonight. As Ginny shed her cloak the blonde- haired boy lifted his head and turned his face toward her. There was something in his eyes that held a secret that Ginny needed to unlock. He looked mischievous and excited to see her.  
  
"Ginny. I wasn't expecting you here tonight," he greeted her smoothly, picking himself up off the bed with ease and began making his way towards her.  
  
"I know - I thought I'd surprise you a little," Ginny told him, a smile playing on her lips at the sight of him acting like his old self.  
  
"Surprise me you did," he told her, running his fingers through her hair longingly. "So, your brother still doesn't know about us?"  
  
"No, but I thought that maybe he should know - " Ginny began to reason, falling into his deep silvery-blue orbs before three of his fingers pressed her lips together.  
  
"Let's keep this between us," he told her before leaning down and kissing her passionately.  
  
Ginny was hit with a surge of affection and longing and kissed him hungrily back. This was what she had been seeking - passion, the dangerous edge in voice that he used when he talked to her. Maybe she wouldn't have to talk to him about his attitude change - maybe it was just a phase.  
  
Just as Ginny was beginning to go dizzy with emotion and lack of air, she felt a pair of strong arms guide her toward the bed. Immediately, she pulled away from him.  
  
"What are you doing?" she demanded, stepping away from him and his bed.  
  
"What's wrong, Ginny?" he asked her, stepping towards her.  
  
"That was, for one thing. I thought we had both agreed we wouldn't take it that far just yet," she told him uncertainly.  
  
"Aren't you ready yet?" he whined, "It's been months."  
  
"That's all it takes now? Just months?" Ginny asked, "I thought you loved me - you should respect what I want out of this relationship."  
  
"I thought YOU loved ME. If you did, this wouldn't be so hard for you to do," his chilly voice said as he took another step towards her.  
  
Ginny looked straight into his eyes, searching for an answer. Then she saw it. His eyes - they weren't Draco's eyes. This wasn't Draco.  
  
"Byron?" she asked, lips trembling as she twirled a strand of hair nervously in her fingers.  
  
"Took you long enough," he drawled.  
  
Ginny's mouth flew open. She had done it now. She had just shamelessly kissed her boyfriend's cousin, thinking it was him. Ginny felt horrible - she couldn't even tell that he wasn't really Draco; she'd just been excited that everything had been somewhat normal again.  
  
"Don't tell," she said before she threw on her cloak and ran down the stairs, tears staining her cheeks.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, there you are! I hope you all enjoyed that - maybe you don't really like it that much but there you have excitement finally, a story line! Happy Day! So leave me a review or I may take an eternity to post again. I need at least 130 reviews to post next so drop me a line! 


	10. A New Plan

For the Sake of the Baby A New Plan  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Disclaimer: I own only the characters you don't recognize as JK Rowling's. I also own most of the plot line. Anything you recognize is obviously not mine and all will be credited at the end of the fiction. Unfortunately, I am not making any money from this story.  
  
Author's Note: YAY! 130! I'm really excited that all of you reviewed so here's your reward! Also, I know that a few of you have mentioned that I need a beta or something of the sort. As I said – all chapters will be later edited. If this bothers you, then you must decide whether you would rather wait longer for an edited chapter or have chapters quicker right now.  
  
Here you go...  
  
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Chapter 10 A New Plan  
  
As Draco made his way up to the Slytherin common room that night, he knew that something wasn't entirely right. The room was completely empty – save a very pleased looking Byron. The boy was grinning ear-to-ear and looked very happy – a strange emotion to him.  
  
"What are you grinning about, Byron?" Draco asked sleepily – only half- caring for the answer.  
  
"Just a good day, I suppose," Byron smirked at his cousin.  
  
Draco knew that there was more to this story than Byron let on, but didn't really care to pres the matter very much farther. Dead tired from carrying that flower sack around all day, Draco collapsed into a fluffy armchair by the fire. The warning signals that usually ensued during any awkward silence he shared with Byron quickly faded as Draco realized he was too tired to care why his usually talkative cousin chose to be silent.  
  
"Any plans for tonight?" Byron asked, predicting the answer.  
  
"I need to get together with Ginny. Why do you ask?" Draco asks, annoyed that Byron wanted to chat tonight. He decided not to talk to his cousin about the outrageous rumors Pansy had shared with him earlier in the day. Byron always voiced his desires, no matter how scandalous, and that wouldn't change now. If Byron wanted Ginny, he would just say so.  
  
"No reason," the blonde boy said casually, getting up to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Right," Draco murmured, letting his annoyance become evident.  
  
As Byron left the room, Draco began to head up to his room so that he could owl Ginny and ask her to come by tonight. When he walked in, Draco noticed that something was very wrong with his room. The more he pondered it, the less evident it became to his eyes. Eventually, he gave it up and walked over to where Anessa was perched, hooting happily.  
  
"Hey, girl," Draco greeted her affectionately. "I have something for you to deliver to Ginny," he said as he bent over his desk and began to scribble a quick invitation to join him in a game of wizard's chess or something tonight. Anessa willingly lent her leg to her owner as he tied the message to her. As she spread her wings and took off into the dark night, Draco fell back into his bed and breathed in deeply.  
  
There it was – that little something that was out of place – it came wafting through Draco's nose. The distinct smell of cologne. It didn't really smell like him – but then, he didn't know anyone who had a key to his room and couldn't imagine who would have motives to break in and just lay in his bed, so he dismissed it.  
  
It had been so long since he'd been with Ginny alone. Every time he would try to talk to her, there was always a crowd of people around them. They needed to be together for a little while. Hopefully, she'd take him up on his offer.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When Anessa came to Ginny with a letter tied around her leg, Ginny's heart skipped a beat. Draco couldn't possibly... Could he? Surely not, she reassured herself. He would have just gotten back to his room from dinner and probably would not have even seen Byron. And even if he had talked to his cousin, Byron wouldn't be willing to give in to that information so soon. He would probably want to stretch out over a long period of time to make life harder for her.  
  
Ginny's slim fingers shakily tore the letter open, hoping for the best. Slowly, she scanned the letter and let out a relieved sigh. He just wanted her to come over tonight and do something with him. That would be easy enough. Maybe she would never have to tell him about the accident. After all, that's just what it was, wasn't it? An accident. He needn't know about something so silly and mistakable.  
  
Draco,  
  
Of course I will come over tonight. I'll be there around nine!  
  
Love you,  
  
Ginny  
  
'Good,' she thought, 'short and simple.'  
  
Reading it over once more, Ginny decided it sounded cheery enough – maybe even a little too cheery. It may let on to her secret. Then again, Draco probably wouldn't read into it nearly as much as she was at the moment. Carefully, Ginny tied her own letter to the beautiful owl's leg and let her go back to Draco.  
  
Now she would just need to get dressed properly to head over there. She very well couldn't go in her baggy sweatpants and large Chudley Cannons sweatshirt that she'd been moping around in all day. She didn't really feel much like dressing up because her nerves were really getting to her. She really felt more like actually going in sweats but on a normal day she wouldn't have gone in anything less than the skirt she wore earlier that day.  
  
Absentmindedly, Ginny reached for the hastily discarded skirt she had worn before and carefully exchanged her sweatpants for the terrycloth skirt. Instead of the crumpled and dejected green t-shirt, she chose a yellow one before she stepped in front of the mirror.  
  
She looked okay, she supposed. At least, her clothes did. She had no makeup on, causing the dark purple circles under her eyes to become more evident, and her hair was piled on top of her head in the sloppiest bun she'd ever seen.  
  
Ginny glanced at the small, pink, heart-shaped clock hanging above her vanity. Eight twenty-five. She only had thirty-five minutes until she needed to be in Draco's room and those circles were going to need some work.  
  
As she began to spread foundation over her fragile freckle-face, she thought back to that afternoon. What happened? How could she have actually thought that Byron was Draco? They were two totally different people! Was she ever going to tell Draco? No. Obviously she couldn't do that – it would totally and completely bring everything they had worked for to shambles. That's really not news that you take lightly, is it? Just thinking about not having Draco with her – dangerous or not – made her heart ache and her eyes well up. While applying lip gloss, she vowed she could never tell him, or anyone else – except maybe Chloe.  
  
Simple washing, drying and curling spells took care of her hair in no time at all. Her mascara elongated her lashes and her eye shadow accented her deep brown eyes. There – she looked like it was just another ordinary day, right?  
  
Grabbing her wand, Ginny made her way to the door, also making sure to grab her large, thick cloak with the hood so it would cover her face in the common room.  
  
This promised to be interesting.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Byron paced back and forth across his small room that night, disturbed by the reaction he was receiving for Ginny and the lack-there-of from Draco. Ginny fled his sight much faster than any girl had ever done before. Why hadn't she been pleased? He could tell that she was enjoying herself when he had kissed her, so what was the problem? Instead of being thrilled that a REAL man had kissed her for a change, she had been positively mortified that Byron was not Draco. To him, technicalities mattered not; he looked like him and he acted like Draco used to – what was the difference?  
  
Draco on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the whole situation. Of course, Ginny would never tell him so it really didn't surprise Byron that he was clueless. But then, surely he'd heard the rumors? Not that they were rumors – they were completely true. When he'd said that Ginny was his prize – he'd meant it. Pansy was sure to go off and pester Draco with this tidbit of information, so why hadn't Draco mentioned it?  
  
Now he needed a new plan – something that was guaranteed to work because obviously he was not just going to charm Ginny Weasley into loving him. It would take something more than that. Draco had to be out of the picture.  
  
And Byron knew just the way to make it happen.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco sat on his massive bed, awaiting Ginny's arrival eagerly. He could hardly wait to see her with all the rumors going around about Byron and whatnot. Maybe just seeing her would ease the suspicions that couldn't help but settle themselves in the pit of his stomach.  
  
Just as he was growing unhealthily impatient, he heard a soft knock on the door before Ginny's soft-featured face appeared in his doorway. She stepped into his room wearing an incredibly short white skirt and yellow top that clung in all the right places. Her hair spilled royally down her back and covered her shoulders.  
  
"You look unbelievable, Gin," Draco told her, getting up and walking towards her.  
  
This scene seemed to be repeating in Ginny's mind over and over again – the way that Byron had strolled over to her so casually earlier that day like he was Draco. She had to stop thinking about all of that and just put it in the past – now she was with the real Draco.  
  
As he reached her and began to lean in for a kiss of greeting, Ginny stopped him and took hold of his chin and stared intently into his eyes – just to be sure. Satisfied with what she saw, she allowed his to envelope her into his arms. For a moment, all of her cares were lost in his kiss, her body was filled with the sensation of being with Draco again. At the same time she began to remember Byron's incredible kiss. This thought caused her to bring the kiss to an end a lot sooner than Draco had wanted.  
  
"I didn't see you around much today, Gin. Where were you off to?" Draco asked, sitting back down on his bed and inviting her over with him.  
  
"Oh, um, I didn't feel that well," Ginny bluffed casually.  
  
"Really? Do you think it was the soup?" Draco asked her, staring at her with concern.  
  
"No, I doubt it. Probably just a little stressed out right now is all," she told him. It was partially true. She was stressed but that had nothing to do with her sickly feelings – at least not in the way she was making it sound to her boyfriend.  
  
"Listen, I was thinking that maybe we should go and tell Ron about us soon. He's bound to catch on eventually isn't he? It's probably just best that we go and do it," Draco suggested.  
  
"Maybe tomorrow we should do that."  
  
"Gin, are you okay? You're still standing all the way across the room. I promise I won't bite," Draco laughed light-heartedly.  
  
Suddenly, all of what she had done earlier that day really hit her hard. She shouldn't be here with Draco right now. Ginny couldn't stand the sight of the room where she had been deceived and kissed by her boyfriend's cousin. It just wasn't moral. Now she really did feel sick. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let something slip to Draco about the afternoon. She had to leave.  
  
"I have to go," Ginny said suddenly to Draco.  
  
"Ginny! What's wrong?" Draco asked her seriously. She'd never acted this way before – there had to be something more than what she was letting on.  
  
"Nothing, Draco – I promise. I just need to go back – I'm really starting to feel sick," Ginny said as he rose from his bed and walked over to her, prepared to stop her until she told him what was really going on.  
  
But Ginny was too quick for him. In a time period of about three seconds she had thrown the hood of her cloak back on, kissed Draco on the cheek and fled from the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, Draco awoke extremely early due to the incessant crying of the flour sack baby that was sitting in the corner of his room. It was so early in fact, that Draco was sure that he could not possibly have been asleep for more than an hour. After trying to contact Ginny for hours after she fled the room, he had finally fallen asleep.  
  
Now Draco had a baby but he feared he wouldn't have a Ginny.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okay, so I know that that wasn't very long at all and I'm sorry but sometimes chapters just need to be like puzzle pieces and this is one of those really inconvenient weird shaped ones that isn't really essential to the detail of the puzzle but has to be there or else something doesn't fit quite right. You know what I mean. So next time it'll be longer I promise! Review as much as humanly possible but I'm not going to do that 'you must have 200 reviews to proceed' thing because if you want this one to be longer, then I'll need more time! But next week's spring break so hopefully there will be an update!  
  
Thanks for all your reviews! 


	11. Letters From Debbie and Sarah

For The Sake of the Baby Chapter 11: Letters from Debbie and Sarah  
  
Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??  
  
Disclaimer: I own only the characters you don't recognize as JK Rowling's. I also own most of the plot line. Anything you recognize is obviously not mine and all will be credited at the end of the fiction. Unfortunately, I am not making any money from this story.  
  
Author's Note: Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for all the reviews I got last chapter! I'm glad that you are all seeing the characters the way that I intended – it makes me very happy to hear you say that! As of now, it is two in the morning and I am writing this chapter for you as this is basically the first time I've had enough time to sit down and write a whole chapter for you all! My uncle got married and since then it's been complete chaos! Anyway, I hope that you enjoy!  
  
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Chapter 11: Letters from Debbie and Sarah  
  
"Gin, wake up! Ginny, really, don't you think you should get up now? You're sure to be late to class," Chloe said in a soothing voice as she bent over her best friend.  
  
"Not going," the heap of blankets said bluntly. It was way too much for her to handle – seeing Draco and Byron both again today and knowing that she should tell Draco what she had done. That she had cheated and betrayed him in the worst way imaginable. Knowing this, Ginny had resolved that she would push back any confrontations for as long as physically possible.  
  
"You have to go," the blonde told her in a soft voice. "This shouldn't be eating you up inside, Gin. You've got too much on your plate to be worry about such a minor glitch in your relationship."  
  
"Minor glitch?" Ginny asked, sitting straight up in bed and letting her mane of curls flow about her freely, narrowly missing a collision with Chloe's forehead. "I've just kissed my boyfriend's cousin."  
  
"Identical cousin," Chloe put in, trying to relieve some of the blame that Ginny was putting on herself. Anyone could have made the same mistake, right?  
  
"That doesn't change the fact that it happened and I should feel incredibly sorry that I can't even tell which one I'm in love with and which one wants to rape me!" Ginny exclaimed, attracting attention to herself immediately.  
  
"Ginny, calm down – he didn't rape you," Chloe said quietly.  
  
"Oh and like he wouldn't have if I had had a slower reaction time," the redhead snapped angrily, remembering the way that Byron had advanced upon her.  
  
"But the point is that you do not have a slow reaction time and you should really just get over it," Chloe sighed loudly, pulling all of the covers off of Ginny's once warm body.  
  
"Fine – but I'm going like this," the redhead told her, standing up to reveal plaid pajama pants matched with a hot pink shirt that matched her furry slippers. Luckily for Ginny, her hair still looked fairly good and she didn't need much makeup.  
  
"Oh yeah, Gin, showing up in your mismatched pajamas will definitely not send up any warning signals that anything's wrong," Chloe said, rolling her eyes dramatically at her friend's childishness.  
  
"I don't care," Ginny said huffily as she grabbed her cloak and headed out ahead of her best friend, who was attempting to put on one more coat of lip gloss as she walked through the portrait hole.  
  
"You look ridiculous – you know that don't you?" The blonde girl asked as many students' eyes gravitated toward Ginny's silly clothing that was still fairly visible beneath her black cloak.  
  
"I personally think that we should have a day where everyone dresses in the clothes that they slept in," Ginny said airily, still in no mood to face the day, "It's really a very free feeling."  
  
"If you insist," Chloe laughed as she led the way through the jostling crowd toward the Divination room quickly.  
  
After a mile long hike to Professor Trelawney's stifling room, Ginny and Chloe collapsed into large, overstuffed poufs. Just as they began to relax, the bug-eyed lady walked into the room with her usual mysterious look across her face.  
  
"Good day, class. It's wonderful that you all managed to join me today as I'm sensing some tension in the room that could have stopped some of you from being here if you weren't all such devoted students," Trelawney smiled crookedly before speaking again.  
  
"Today, we're going to try something a little more advanced than you've previously studied. It will take much more skill than many of you possess at this point in time but we will nonetheless try," she paused and pushed her glasses up on her nose as she surveyed the room, "we're going to attempt to predict one major event that will occur today using basic questioning methods and tea."  
  
"What? How is that supposed to work?" Ginny asked Chloe, who rolled her eyes and shrugged at their professor's batty ideas.  
  
"I want you all to pair up and I will pass out these books so you may begin."  
  
"Oh great – I told you that I should have stayed in bed," Ginny told her best friend, anxiety evident in her voice.  
  
"Suck it up, Gin. It's not a big deal – you can just sleep through the lesson or something – she'll never know," the blonde told her.  
  
"Chloe, I'm not going to sleep."  
  
"Whatever," Chloe said as Trelawney came around to them and handed Ginny a bright pink text book.  
  
"So, where shall we start?" Ginny asked, attempting to be a little more upbeat as she skimmed over the material. "It sounds easy enough, I suppose. You're just supposed to make each other a cup of tea and then sit down and have a general discussion as you're drinking it. Then you're supposed to trade cups and interpret the mossy stuff at the bottom – sort of like what we did in third year only your answers to the questions are supposed to react with it somehow and change the outcome."  
  
"Erm – all right then. Let's make our tea then, shall we?" Chloe said as she reached across the table and found the tea and cups.  
  
Both girls starred at their tea in silence while they mixed it up, neither wanting to discuss much of what had been going on in the last few days as it was a touchy subject. Of course, it would have to be brought up during their 'tea conversation' that they were to have.  
  
Eventually the tea was ready and they gave each other their cups and starred at each other, not really knowing how to start out. Sure, they had plenty to talk about but they hadn't ever really had a 'question and answer session' per say.  
  
"So, uh, Chloe – how's Andrew?" Ginny finally asked.  
  
"Oh well you know, he's doing well. I haven't really seen him much with Quidditch try-outs coming up and whatnot," Chloe supplied easily. "How's Draco?"  
  
A pained look spread across Ginny's face at the mention of her beloved boyfriend.  
  
"I really don't know, I suppose. I guess he's doing okay or he would have said something," Ginny admitted.  
  
"Maybe you should ask him next time you see him," Chloe suggested, taking a sip of tea and looking at the redhead meaningfully.  
  
"I probably should. So Chloe, what would you do if you where in my position?" Ginny asked in an effort to have a descent conversation with her friend and keeping up the assignment.  
  
"I guess I would have just put it out of my head by now. It was an honest mistake, wasn't it?" Chloe asked.  
  
"Well, yes, I guess it was an accident – but don't you think I should have been able to tell the difference between the man I love and his cousin?" Ginny urged.  
  
"It's really not a big deal – it's not like things went any farther than a kiss that was instigated by him. Plus – they're identical, really how do they expect you to keep up?" Chloe asked.  
  
Ginny knew that Chloe was trying her best to make her feel less guilty about something that really wasn't entirely her own fault to begin with – but somehow, she didn't feel that reassured until Chloe continued.  
  
"You said that you enjoyed the kiss when you thought that it was Draco kissing you like he used to, right?" Ginny nodded. "Do you feel pleasure when you think about the kiss now that you know it was Byron who really kissed you?" Chloe inquired.  
  
Ginny thought about that for a good minute before she answered completely honestly.  
  
"No, I really don't feel anything at all," Ginny told her.  
  
"See, so there you go! You had no intention of cheating on Draco nor do you even feel any pleasure from accidentally kissing his cousin. If you did like it even now, then that would be something that you should worry about," Chloe brought up.  
  
"Okay, I suppose I'll try to lighten up a little about it," Ginny agreed before making an effort to change the subject. "Where'd you get your heels, Clo? I don't recognize them – they're cute!"  
  
"Thanks – actually I picked them up on holiday but I've never worn them because I wasn't sure how they'd look with our cloaks," Chloe said, gesturing to her black stiletto heels that tied around her ankles elegantly. "I didn't want them to look too out of place with the dreary uniforms."  
  
"I don't think they do at all," Ginny reassured her. Suddenly, she was extremely glad she had Chloe. Honestly, without her she would forever dwell upon little things in life that could be fixed a lot easier when she had Chloe there to guide her through it and tell her that everything would be all right. Not only that, but Chloe could easily deal with a subject change when Ginny indicated she didn't want to talk about something anymore.  
  
Looking at her best friend, Ginny realized just how much Chloe had grown from the previous year with her. Up until this point, she had been to busy with Draco to notice how much she had changed and matured physically and spiritually.  
  
Her curly blonde hair, though long and beautiful last year, had because much more spectacular somehow – instead of uniform ringlets, there were now uneven, wide curls that bounced in layers as she laughed. Not only had her hair become more sophisticated but her face had darkened and her green eyes had extra sparkle to them that hadn't been there earlier and Ginny couldn't help but wonder if this was Andrew's doing. Chloe was still the goofy girl she used to hang out with all that time but she also had developed a more serious, caring side to her that made people want to come to her and talk with her.  
  
"Can I help you?" Chloe asked, laughing at Ginny's dazed gaze in her direction.  
  
"I was just wondering if we could decode our tea yet," Ginny said, taking a moment after saying it to laugh at how funny that statement sounded.  
  
"Why not?" Chloe said, exchanging cups with Ginny and leaning over the book with her.  
  
"Well Chloe, apparently something very exciting is about to happen to you! That doesn't sound so bad," Ginny said, setting the cup down and smiling at the blonde next to her. It was then that she noticed that Chloe wasn't laughing along with her – instead she looked like she didn't know quite what to say. "What's wrong, Chloe?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong – it's just... odd."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"Your cup seems to indicate that something will come out tonight about someone you care deeply for – I don't even know what that could mean!" Chloe exclaimed.  
  
"Well, we all know how incredibly accurate these things are," Ginny giggled, brushing off the prediction without a second glance.  
  
"If you insist," Chloe said, putting away all of their materials.  
  
"Well, I do," Ginny said as the bell sounded, "Now let's go to lunch."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
When lunchtime came that day, Draco was particularly eager to see Ginny. Not only did he want to see her so badly because of the obvious, but also because he'd had that screaming baby thing with him for far too long and he felt that it was Ginny's turn to pitch in a little.  
  
On his way to the Great Hall, Draco noticed that he was getting some pretty odd stares from females and knowing smirks from males. Not that this hadn't happened before – he just couldn't remember doing anything worth noticing. Pansy decided that she should be the first to get him up to date on the latest rumors, as per usual.  
  
"Drakie!"  
  
"What, Pansy?" Draco asked nastily, trying to balance his bag and his 'kid' at the same time.  
  
"Don't be snippy, Draco. I just thought that we should have a little chat before lunch," the pug-faced girl told him nonchalantly, grasping his arm tightly.  
  
"I really don't think that's necessary, Parkinson," Draco said with disgust evident in his voice. Why she thought he liked her was beyond him; after all, did he not do a marvelous job showing her just how much he hated her?  
  
"Suit yourself, Draco, but you'd better hope that the Weaselette thinks the same way," she smirked as she walked away.  
  
What was that woman good for anyway? She dangled useless information in front of his face at all hours of the day and then she expects him to respond when she starts a meaningful conversation the same way she starts the rest of them. Now what had happened?  
  
Luckily, Draco spotted Blaise a short distance away from him with Dean and decided that it would be safe to ask her, assuming that he could drag her away from Thomas long enough to have a decent conversation.  
  
"Blaise!"  
  
The raven-haired girl turned her large eyes his way before she hesitantly waved at him. When Draco motioned for her to come over, she seemed tentative at first before whispering something in Thomas' ear and walking his way.  
  
"Blaise, are you okay?" Draco asked his friend once he noticed the effort she was putting into avoiding all eye contact with anything but the floor. After receiving no answer, Draco couldn't take it much longer; he grasped her small chin in his fingers and tilted her head so she was looking him square in the eye. "What is going on?"  
  
"Don't act so innocent, Draco. I can't believe that you would do something like this to Ginny and after all that you've been through together! She needs you, Draco!" Blaise spat, taking the Malfoy by surprise.  
  
"I'm not acting, Blaise! I really don't know what's going on – why am I getting all these strange looks and why are you acting like that? What has Ginny got to be mad about?" Draco asked, extremely baffled by all of the activity that had been taking place within the last ten minutes.  
  
"Honestly, Draco – you don't expect me to believe that you didn't do anything, did you? I just thought for sure that Ginny meant more to you than that! I hope you got what you wanted at least," Blaise threw back at him, her eyes glowering dangerously. He couldn't remember ever seeing Blaise so incredibly mad at anyone, let alone him.  
  
"Could you at least just tell me what I've done that's so horrible?" Draco asked cautiously, knowing that Blaise was already angry at him for doing something that would hurt Ginny.  
  
All the slim girl could do was roll her eyes with disgust and hand him a folded up piece of paper. After pressing it into is hand, Blaise stared at him for a moment, tears filling her eyes as she spoke.  
  
"I though I knew you, Draco Malfoy. I guess I was wrong," she said as she walked away slowly and made her way back to her Gryffindor boyfriend.  
  
The blonde boy decided that if this news was really that bad, he should probably find a quieter place to read it. Opting to sit on the stone steps a few feet outside of the Great Hall's doors, he began to unfold the stiff piece of parchment. He could only hope it wasn't something from his previous years when he'd been stupid and reckless, drinking and smoking. But what he saw there was not an embarrassing or shameful photo – it was written in elegant handwriting and it said words that stung worse than anything he could have imagined.  
  
Dear Draco,  
  
I enjoyed our rendezvous last night more than you'll ever know. What I don't understand is why you left me so soon. Did I not please you? That was not the way it seemed last night at all...  
  
Debbie  
  
Draco,  
  
Hey, baby! I hope that you enjoyed yourself just as much as I did the other night! I told you that I'd be well worth your time. It was refreshing to see that you've come to your senses and ditched that red- haired trash you called a girlfriend. What could she have possibly have give you anyway – at least, that I didn't give you last night? I hope I'll be in your company again soon – maybe this time we'll try something new!  
  
XOXO, Sarah.  
  
And the list of letters written to him went on and on, eventually adding up to six different girls claiming to have been with him at different times during the night. Draco, though, found this absolutely shocking as he could not remember anything like that ever taking place – and he was sure he'd remember something like that. What exactly was going on? Why did all of these girls think he'd dumped Ginny for them? Surely he hadn't passed out in the common room again, had he? But then – he could almost vividly remember going to sleep in his own bed – alone.  
  
Whatever the reason behind the letters, one thing was certain – Ginny mustn't know about them. With this decision being made, Draco folded the notes back up and placed them safely in his cloak pocket before he made quick, confident strides toward the Great Hall. There was one thing he had to do.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Ginny took her seat in the Great Hall, she noticed that many eyes had turned their attention to her, rather than their dinner. Baffled by this sudden gesture, Ginny decided to ignore it. She was doing a fairly good job of it, too, until Blaise found her way to Ginny.  
  
"Gin–" she began in a hurry, brushing the hair from her face.  
  
"Blaise! It's been forever!" Chloe exclaimed, grinning broadly at the dark- haired girl standing in front of them.  
  
"No kidding Blaise, why haven't you made your way to the tower lately? Surely you've been there for Dean," Ginny added slyly, smiling knowingly at one of her best friends.  
  
"Um, sure, I guess," Blaise said, sounding a bit more rushed than usual, "but listen–"  
  
Just as Blaise began to open her mouth and reveal Draco's scandalous acts, the blonde man stepped up next to her with a bag of flour heaved over his shoulder.  
  
"Morning, Gin!" He said sweetly, leaning down and placing a kiss square on the lips, shocking the redhead considerably since her brother had been watching.  
  
"Hey!" An indignant voice from Draco's right yelled, "I thought you two were 'just friends' and 'just friends' don't do THAT!" Ron yelled, his face turning dangerously purple.  
  
"Oh relax, Weasley. Besides, we're only together for the sake of the baby," Draco said, brushing the angry older brother with ease.  
  
"BABY?" Ron roared. "You got my little sister pregnant? And you're only friends? And you go my little sister pregnant?"  
  
"You seemed to have already said that one," Draco mentioned, not helping Ron calm down in the slightest.  
  
Without warning, Ron lunged at Draco, arms outstretched, ready to strangle every last breath out of that boy's lungs. Luckily, Draco dodged him easily and Ron fell to the floor.  
  
"Calm down, Weasley. I didn't get your sister pregnant but we ARE more than friends. One out of two isn't bad though," Draco smirked as Ron picked himself up off the floor and stood with his fists clenched at his sides, ready to attack at any given moment.  
  
"I'll deal with you later," Ron announced as he stalked off.  
  
"I cannot believe you just did that," Ginny said, half amused and half bewildered.  
  
"Well, eventually he's got to know. In fact, everyone should know how much I love you – because I do, you know," Draco said, leaning into her once more for one last kiss to seal everything. At least now if she found out about the rumors before he could straighten them out, she would know that he loved her and hopefully that would calm her down enough to come and talk to him about it first.  
  
"Ahem."  
  
Ginny turned to see that Blaise was still standing there with a horrified look on her face.  
  
"Oh, sorry Blaise – what was it you wanted to say?" she asked politely.  
  
"I'm sure it was nothing, Gin," Draco said, trying to be quick enough to cover up Blaise's hastiness. "Now, I need to talk with Blaise about something and I need you to take this thing," he said, handing her the flour sack with ease.  
  
"Wow, she's still in one piece!" Ginny laughed.  
  
"But of course!" he said, pretending to be hurt. "Well, I will see you later, Gin! Meet me in the room at 8 tonight."  
  
"I'll be there," Ginny agreed as she watched Draco walk off with Blaise, who was reluctantly being dragged behind him back to the Slytherin table.  
  
"That was weird," Chloe commented as she helped her self to the chicken in front of her.  
  
"Very much so," Ginny agreed, "but I suppose I'll find out what it was all about tonight."  
  
"Maybe we should hang out more with Blaise – she seems to be a upset today – not to mention the fact that she's been more distant lately," the blonde girl suggested.  
  
"How about a shopping trip?" Ginny suggested, smile lighting up her face.  
  
"Great!"  
  
Ginny could hardly wait for what was to come. Finally she was with Draco - and Ron knew it – plus, she, Chloe and Blaise might go shopping! What could possibly go wrong?  
  
More than she knew.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okay, so it's a little lame - but the point is that something is definitely up and nobody is really making sense to each other since they all know bits and pieces of different stories. Yeah so please review and tell me what you think and what you believe will happen, etc, etc. Flame me, compliment me, do whatever you wish!  
  
I do have one very happy announcement though! I may be well on my way to writing my first book that will be suitable for publishing. I have been accepted into a writing program that promises that I will have at least one manuscript reading by the end of my session. Of course, this is not definite because I need to decide if I will enroll or not but let's all cross our fingers!!  
  
Oh yes and the bad news for the day – I have mono. And no I didn't kiss anyone – though sometimes I wish I did – it sure would make things more worthwhile!  
  
And one more thing – starting next chapter, my friend Leanne will be editing for me so hopefully my thoughts will be more fluent!  
  
So review please!! 


	12. Dropping you a line!

Hello everyone!  
  
I know I should be hiding in the corner right now for being a horrible, slow, inconsiderate author – and trust me, I wish I was, but I think I owe you all an explanation. I know they're just excuses, but they are legitimate.  
  
First off, my family and I moved like twenty miles away from all civilization so I've had plenty of time to write (well, I would have if I didn't have to work so much. I currently babysit for the brattiest girl I've ever met and she treats me like her maid and I get paid next to nothing for it.)! So that's good news for all of you. The bad news is that since we moved, we have no internet connection at all (along with no cable). That would be why I don't have anything for you yet.  
  
Right now, I'm at my grandparents computer – not at mine so my files are not here. But I promise that I will seriously try to get it out to you as quickly as possible! Thank you all so much for the encouragement to keep writing! It's helped to motivate me!! Keep your eyes out for more!!  
  
XO, DC  
  
PS – sometimes, when I'm babysitting, I sneak onto their computer and check my email to see if you guys have responded!! I know it's bad... oh well. 


	13. The Beginning of a Very Long Night

For the Sake of the Baby

Chapter 12

Summary: Ginny and Draco have to say goodbye to each other for the summer and they both go home to BIG surprises! Draco's got a little one at home and Ginny's got several! At school there's new kid causing some trouble between the lovers, nasty rumors are beginning to spread and it's starting to look like things will never be the same again. Plus Draco and Ginny get paired up for another practical project! And what does a sack of flour have to with it??

Disclaimer: I own only the characters you don't recognize as JK Rowling's. I also own most of the plot line. Anything you recognize is obviously not mine and all will be credited at the end of the fiction. Unfortunately, I am not making any money from this story.

Author's Note: Hello, hello! So school's sort of settling down – okay, not really but it'd be nice to think it was. I've found the time to write tonight mostly because it's Prom weekend and I'm not old enough nor do I have a date that's old enough to go. So here I am! This time, I'd like to send a thank you to Lan, my new beta reader! Hopefully, this time it will be at least a little more correct grammatically and whatnot. So...on with the story!

Chapter 12

The Beginning of a Very Long Night

All day long, Draco continued to find letters from random girls lying around in his classes – and they were all addressed to him. Though the day started with Debbie and Sarah, it ended with Renee, Michelle, Kelsey, Pansy (which he shivered at), Courtney and Naomi. As he walked out of his last class toward the Great Hall, he toyed with the eight letters he had tucked deep within his robes.

Should he tell her? Should he not? Both thoughts crossed his mind and of course, he wanted desperately to choose the latter of the two – but he also knew that the consequences would be far worse if he let Ginny find out from anyone else. He would have to tell her tonight when they met. Maybe she would believe him, but perhaps not. His chances weren't good; after all, who would believe that Draco Malfoy had been completely loyal to any girl at all, let alone his proclaimed 'true love', Ginny Weasley? No one would. He would be alone – even Blaise didn't believe him and they'd been friends since before they'd come to Hogwarts. He was completely and totally alone.

At least he'd have Sarah, Renee, and all those other girls to keep him company when Ginny found out.

He would have to tell her – she would surely understand, right? It's not like he'd done anything with these girls, no matter what they were thanking him for. Where had he been through that whole experience anyway? Why would these girls think up these strange stories?

Tonight he would confront Ginny and tell her the truth behind all of these rumors. Surely she would believe HIM over everyone else. Tonight he would find out.

On his way to the secret room that he and Ginny had uncovered the year before, Byron stopped him.

"Hey, Draco! Where are you headed?" Byron asked, blocking the hallway.

"I'm going to meet Ginny," Draco said shortly, not really in the mood to deal with his bratty cousin.

"But I thought that the Gryffindor common room was the other way," Byron said thoughtfully glancing down the hallway toward it.

"It is," Draco said simply and kept on walking.

"I heard about your exciting night last night, Draco. Actually, come to think of it – I heard the whole rendezvous through the wall. It sounded quite fun, really – you should have told me you were having a party," Byron said cockily.

"I wasn't having a party," Draco said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sure Ginny will be angry she wasn't invited. Now why wasn't she invited Draco, I must ask. Is she not pretty enough, or smart enough, or is she just becoming to boring for you?"

"There wasn't a party to be invited to. And if there was one then she would have been the only one invited because she is the only one pretty enough, the only one smart enough and the only one who doesn't bore me. I never want to hear you question that again, Byron. I don't know where you or these girls got these ideas from but I can tell you what you can do with them. You can shove them right up your –"

"Draco! I've been looking all over for you! We were supposed to meet ten minutes ago!" Ginny's worried voice announced her arrival.

"I'm sorry, Gin, but Byron felt the need to stop me and ask me a few questions. Now I'm done and I've made my point and I was just getting ready to look for you," Draco lied, avoiding telling her that he had been about ready to slit Byron's throat.

"Oh, hello Byron," Ginny said, avoiding all eye contact with him but making an effort to be polite.

"Good evening, Ginny," Byron said, reaching for her hand and kissing it in what was supposed to be a polite and gentlemanly gesture.

Ginny instinctively pulled her hand away from his grasp as quickly as possible and clasped her hand around Draco's as a sign of her disgust and contempt toward him. Ginny loved the shocked look that passed across his face as she did this. It was like her own sweet revenge for tricking her – she made him look like a fool. He hadn't thought that his astonishment had shown because he had quickly covered it up with that empty look that the Malfoys had so perfected, but Ginny had been around Draco long enough to catch those subtle looks of emotion.

"I can see I'm not needed any longer," Byron said icily, "I'll see you later, Draco," he added, intentionally ignoring Ginny as he swept passed them and up the corridor.

"Do you understand what I mean about how dangerous he is?" Draco asked.

"I'm beginning to," Ginny said as they walked hand in hand up the corridor and through the passage to the small, cozy room of theirs.

"What finally made you see?" Draco asked out curiosity. He had never really seen Ginny and Byron together.

"Oh nothing in particular, I guess. I've just observed some of the stunts he's pulled and it's made me think about what you said a little more," Ginny said, feeling guilty as soon as the words left her mouth. She knew it was an awful lie to tell, but it was also a believable lie.

Draco opened the door to the hidden room and allowed Ginny to walk through first before looking around to ensure its secrecy and closing it behind him again.

There was a lot at stake tonight and Draco and Ginny both knew that their secrets must come out. Tonight was a crucial night – should they tell or should they not? The letters were burning a hole in Draco's pocket and Ginny's guilt was tearing her up inside. Tonight would be interesting...

Okay, okay, that was the absolute worst chapter you've all ever read and I know it. How pathetic is that? I really wish that there was something I could do about it! I know what you're all thinking, "well, you've had six months to make it perfect – or at least more than ten paragraphs long... what gives?" Honestly... a mixture of things.

First, I'm not quite sure what the next step in the fic should be... I know what is going to happen next but I don't know how to write a few chapters that will lead you all into that action. This would be one of my first and probably the worst case of writer's block I've ever had.

Second, because of the above factor, I have been increasingly unmotivated to write because it just frustrates me and I've been so incredibly busy. That's why I decided to come to a (horrible) stopping point and at least get this much of it up just to signal that I'm still trying to make it work.

Third, because of a mixture of both above reasons, my mind has wandered to another fic that's (in my opinion) a much better plot line, much more mature and from what I've written, is a much nicer read. My writing style has changed drastically since I began writing either one of these fics and it's increasingly harder to build on it. I can't wait to post it but I'm not posting until it's half done that way I can write at my leisure without the pressure of having to update.

I do feel really horrible as the author about the entire scenario but at least you may have an absolute kick-butt story come out of it that will be a good read while you're waiting for me to write in this one. We'll see how it all goes, shall we?

Anyway, review and let me know your thoughts on the whole situation and the crap I've posted for a chapter. I would love to get some feedback! God knows I don't deserve it...

Here's a summary of the upcoming fic: It will be (tentatively) called: A Backwards Fairytale. I don't want to give too much away for fear of someone else taking the idea and running with it or what not, but you will all be witnesses to me! Here it is:

Summary: Fairytales are supposed to be lovely stories told to children at bedtime, where handsome, valiant knights rescue their damsels in distress. For Ginny Weasley, her fairytale life ended up a twisted, even backwards version of that – so backwards that it may not end how she wants it to. And with Draco Malfoy attempting to be a knight in shining armor who 'rescues' her from the perfect life she'd always wanted and takes her to a life more properly found in her nightmares, how could it? But we all know that any good fairytale starts with a fiery redhead and an angry ferret.

This fic will be a much better, developed plot and it will just be better. I'm not going to have them in love in the first 3 chapters or even maybe the first ten. It takes longer than that in real life and it will take longer than that here. But it's not going to be slow going at all... you'll just have to read and find out! I promise you will love it!

Wow, so that was longer than the actual chapter almost right? Crazy... I'm leaving now to go cry in the corner.


End file.
